Dubai: Prosecutors lost their appeal to stiffen the punishment for a cook who was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for biting off a chunk of his ex-fiancee’s ear in the street and stealing her purse.
The 34-year-old Sri Lankan man followed his countrywoman and stopped her in the street, snatched her purse, bit her ear and ran away in April 2016.
The woman was engaged to the defendant, but they broke up over several disagreements.
After having stalked her relentlessly for a few weeks, he used to snatch her purse time and again, take the money and return it the next day.
The woman complained to the police after the ear-biting incident.
In June, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant, who pleaded not guilty, of snatching the woman’s purse and assaulting her and causing her a permanent disability.
Prosecutors appealed the primary judgement before the Appeal Court and sought to stiffen the punishment.
Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif dismissed prosecutors’ appeal and upheld the six-month jail sentence.
The defendant will be deported after serving the jail term.
The accused caused a five per cent permanent disability to his former fiancee when he bit off a part of her ear. He stole her purse that contained a mobile phone, bank card, Emirates ID and Dh610.
The Sri Lankan woman testified that three years prior to the incident, she and the defendant were engaged and about to get married, before she called it off.
“Since then, he has been stalking me. He always snatched my purse, taking away the money and returning the purse the next day. On the day when the incident happened in Al Satwa, I was walking to my workplace when he came from behind. He punched me first, snatched my purse, bit my ear and ran away,” she testified.
A policeman said the woman complained that the defendant bit her ear when she resisted his attempt to steal her purse.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 26 days.
