Murrath (R) and Hana being taken to the Criminal Court. FILE PHOTO
The Judge presiding over the murder case of prominent lawyer Ahmed 'Carrot' Najeeb has stated that a verdict would be delivered next week.
The State had charged Ahmed Murrath, 29 of Maafannu Masroora and Fathimath Hana, 18 of Shaviyani Atoll Goidhoo Rihaab for the brutal stabbing murder of Najeeb. Both the suspects had confessed to the crime in court earlier.
Firstly the State presented evidence in the case today citing that it wished to present additional evidence though both suspects had confessed to the charges.
Hence, the State presented several items of evidence including a statement of an employee of the store that had sold the large garbage can to the suspects. State attorney further detailed that the documentations of the bank revealed that the suspects had withdrawn cash using the cash card of the victim and the CCTV camera had captured footage of Murrath and Hana entering a canteen near the vicinity of the ATM used to withdraw money from Najeeb’s account.
In addition, the statement of a foreign expatriate worker claiming that Hana had purchased air freshener from a store was also presented by the State among the evidence. The State alleged that the air freshener had been used to mitigate the odor of the room where Najeeb was murdered.
State further detailed that the finger print report revealed that the finger prints of both Hana and Murrath had been lifted off the garbage can where Najeeb’s body had been dumped.
Attorney while claiming that the urine test report indicated that Murrath had been intoxicated at the time of the murder had submitted the report as evidence.
The rest of the evidence presented by the State in court today include, Najeeb’s Broad Death report, physical examination report, scene of crime report , Murrath’s mobile phone analysis report and photos of the injuries inflicted to Najeeb’s neck.
The State had also presented the statement of the owner of Masroora named Azeeza (Murrath’s mother) and added that more evidence in the case was currently being processed.
However, the Judge had rejected the notion after stressing that no more evidence can be presented after today.
When the Judge separately asked both suspects whether they denied any evidence presented by the State, both Hana and Murrath had declined to dismiss any of the evidence.
While reading out the summary statement, State attorney highlighted that both Hana and Murrath had confessed to the charges of murder in the first degree and had even revealed details of the way the murder had been committed to the court. The attorney added that the State believes that the confessions were in accordance with the Article 52 of the constitution.
In addition, the State attorney stressed that the actions of Hana and Murrath had direct relations with the resulting outcome. Hence even if the death was a result of a person’s specific action, the subsequent death can be attributed to all the persons involved.
In addition, the State attorney that though Murrath had claimed in court that he had been intoxicated at the time of the crime, he had chosen to inebriate himself without duress.
When asked by the Judge whether the accused had anything to say, Murrath rather calmly said he had nothing further to say but requested the court to expedite a verdict. Hana had also declined the opportunity to make a statement.
During the hearing today, the Judge revealed that no one had responded to the announcement made to seek additional heirs of Najeeb by the time deadline had ended. Hence the court has decided that Najeeb had no more heirs to the eight already known, Judge added.
The Judge during the last hearing had claimed that a verdict would be delivered on Thursday. However, Judge explained that one heir of Najeeb who lives abroad had not signed the statement given to the court and due to a change made to the table of the section handling the case a verdict would not be delivered tomorrow.
However, Judge added that trial would end next week. All eight heirs of Najeeb had asked the court for the death penalty in the trial.
Najeeb’s body was discovered on the night of July 1, in a room in the first floor of Masroora. His body had been dumped in a large garbage can inside the room, which the police claimed in court was occupied by the unmarried Hana and Murrath.
According to Murrath’s confession, he had stabbed Najeeb in the neck.
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