DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A man in the United Arab Emirates allegedly killed his 8-year-old daughter and injured her 7-year-old sister in an effort to perform an exorcism.
At a hearing Wednesday in Dubai, the girls' uncle called his brother, identified only as Hamad S., a loving father, the Gulf Times reported. The uncle said the younger girl told him her father's girlfriend, who also faces charges, was the one who beat and tortured them.
The girls' mother, however, testified that her daughter said both Hamad and the girlfriend, Al Ounod A., mistreated the sisters.
A doctor said the older girl's body was so decomposed when it was discovered he couldn't identify the cause of death. He said she had a broken arm and other injuries.
The government is seeking the death penalty for Hamad and his girlfriend.
"The couple detached themselves from any sort of humanity and mercy when they tortured the girls. The girls were locked up in the flat where they were tortured and burnt and left without food," Attorney General Essam Eisa Al Humaidan said at a news conference Wednesday.
