Do not delay it, execute him: Mother of Kerala woman killed in Dubai

“I want my message to reach them loud and clear. Do not delay it. Execute him. Justice is all I want. His death will not bring my daughter back. But I want this as a message to anyone who takes our daughters away,” said Usha.

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Popere and Nimmy met in a Mumbai college and went on to marry in 2008. Nimmy, then rechristened as Bushra, gave birth to a daughter. Within a few years of marriage, Popere moved to Dubai to work as a shop manager. Within two years, Bushra followed him there.

Their daughter could not adjust to Dubai’s weather and was sent to Raigad district to live with Popere’s parents when she turned three. Popere allegedly started a relationship with another foreign national, leading to marital discord.

“One evening, Popere’s parents called up my son Nigil and said the couple weren’t taking calls on the landline phone. Nigil lives three hours away at another end in Dubai,” said Usha.

When Nigil went to his sister’s, he found the house locked. After a search, a body in a mortuary was identified as Bushra’s. The authorities have said she was killed on March 11.

It was only during the trial that Usha figured that Popere killed her. “They say he smothered her with a pillow while she was sleeping. She must have never seen it coming. None of us did,” she said.

Former vice-chairman of Minorities Commission Abraham Mathai, who helped Usha with diplomatic procedures, said Popere had fled to India. He eventually returned to UAE and surrendered in 2013.

Popere and another person suspected in the crime had pleaded not guilty. After their conviction, the Court of Appeal rejected their appeal to commute the death sentence to life.

Their appeal before the highest court of Dubai was rejected last week.

Usha is now fighting a custody battle for her six-year-old granddaughter, who is now in Raigad.

She recalled Bushra’s call on March 7 two years ago.

“She asked me to decorate the new house that we had bought and design a room for when she comes visiting. We made plans of the movies to watch and the the places to frequent. Seven years had passed since she saw Kerala,” said Usha. “I never moved into that house.”