SHE MARRIED A 72-YEAR-OLD Arab SHEIKH — And after 6 MONTHS she was found in pieces in the kitchen..

SHE MARRIED A 72-YEAR-OLD Arab SHEIKH — And after 6 MONTHS she was found in pieces in the kitchen..

On June 22, 2023, a Filipino housekeeper broke the kitchen window of a villa in Race Elkaima and screamed until the guards arrived.  Lying on the ground were the body parts of her boss, Alexandra Criftsova, a 22-year-old Russian woman, carefully arranged in plastic containers bearing inscriptions in Arabic.

  Alexandra Criftsova studied Arabic language and the culture of Islamic countries at the Faculty of Oriental Studies in Nigni Novgorod. In 2022, she registered on an international dating platform for Muslims seeking a serious relationship.  In her profile, the young woman indicates her interest in Islamic culture and her desire to settle in an Arab country.

  A few months later, a user named Abdou Halim bin Saï Al-Qassimi started writing to him. The man presents himself as a 72- year-old widower, a distant relative of the ruling family of the Ras Alhaima emirate in the United Arab Emirates.  According to him, he owns several meat processing companies and commercial markets in the region.

  In his correspondence, he describes himself as a pious man seeking a young, educated wife to lead a quiet family life.  Al Cassimi emphasizes that he is ready to offer his wife comfortable living conditions and the opportunity to pursue her studies.  Alexandra tells her family and friends about her meeting with this influential businessman from the United Arab Emirates.

  The young woman says he is serious about his intention to get married and ready to formalize their relationship according to Islamic traditions.  Her parents are worried about the large age difference and the cultural differences.  But Alexandra convinces them with a thoughtful approach.  She says she sees marriage as an opportunity to put her knowledge of Eastern culture into practice.

  At the beginning of 2023, Alexandra flew to Dubai on a tourist visa.  The meeting with her future husband takes place at the hotel in the presence of several members of her family.  The young woman calls home and announces that the man meets her expectations and seems respectable.  Three days later, she participated in the Nika ceremony, an Islamic religious rite that seals the marriage.

  The ceremony takes place in a private home in the presence of an imam and witnesses.  After the ceremony, Alassimi confiscated Alexandra’s Russian passport, explaining that it was necessary to obtain a long-term resident visa.  The young girl moves into her villa on the outskirts of Race Elkaaima. A two-story building surrounded by a high fence.

  Several Filipino housekeepers who speak virtually no English work in the house.  Alexandra has a private room and a traditional women’s wardrobe.  During the first few weeks of her marriage, the young woman remained in regular contact with her family and friends in Russia. She says she is getting used to her new lifestyle.

  learns about local traditions and improves his knowledge of the Arabic language. Alexandra mentions that her husband demands adherence to strict religious rules , but explains this by the peculiarities of the local culture. She says she feels safe even though she sometimes gets sick. Gradually, the tone of Alexandra’s messages begins to change.

  She communicates less often and responds more reservedly to questions from her loved ones. The young woman mentions that her husband does not approve of frequent contact with her old friends and believes that his wife should devote more time to studying the Quran and household chores. Alexandra says she is trying to find a balance between respecting the new rules and maintaining ties with her family.

  In April 2023, calls to the home became even rarer.  Alexandra explains this by a busy schedule of religious classes and by preparing her application for a permanent residence permit. Her parents are worried and are asking her to give them her husband’s contact information.  But the young woman replies that he opposes any direct communication with his Russian family until all the administrative formalities are settled.

  The last telephone conversation with his parents took place at the end of April.  Alexandra was brief and seemed tense.  She gave evasive answers to questions about her health and plans, citing fatigue and the need to maintain silence in the house.  The young woman promised to call back in a week, but that call did not happen.

In May, her relatives tried to contact Alexandra, but her phone was switched off.  The efforts made with the Russian consulate in the United Arab Emirates have yielded no results.  No official information regarding problems with a Russian citizen has been released.  Her parents began searching for her on social media and contacted acquaintances with connections in the area, but they were unable to obtain any information on Alexandra’s whereabouts.

  The only remaining means of communication was Alexandra’s friend, a student in the same faculty with whom the young girl occasionally corresponded via instant messaging.  In June, she received several voice messages from Alexandra which were the last signs of life from her.  In her recordings, the girl’s voice sounded depressed and worried.

In the first message, Alexandra recounted that her husband spent most of the day at the mosque and hardly communicated with her at home.  The young girl complained of her loneliness and the strict restrictions imposed on her movements within the house.  She mentioned that the chambermaids avoided all contact with her and were clearly afraid to say anything .

  Alexandra said she was not allowed to leave her room without scarves and appropriate clothing.  In the second voicemail recorded a few days later, Alexandra described a strange smell of meat that constantly hung in the house.  She noticed that all the kitchen knives had disappeared from the tables and drawers, which seemed unusual to her.

The young woman expressed her growing concern about the change in her husband’s behavior and the atmosphere in the house. The last voicemail message was sent on June 14th.  In this message, Alexandra said in a broken voice that the situation was becoming unbearable.  She mentioned physical punishments for breaking established rules and asked her friend to find a way to contact her parents.

  The young girl said she felt her life was in danger , but she couldn’t leave the house alone. The recording stopped mid-sentence.  After sending her last voice message, Alexandra Criftsova disappeared from all communication channels.  His friend tried calling and messaging him, but received no response.  The girl’s phone indicated that she was offline in instant messaging apps.

  Eight days of complete silence followed in Alcassimi’s house until the Filipino maid started shouting from the kitchen window.  The events of June 20th unfolded very quickly.  At approximately 2 p.m. local time, security at the residential complex received an emergency call from one of the houses.

  The dispatcher recorded a message indicating that a woman was screaming and struggling at the window, asking for help.  The security team arrived on the scene minutes later and found the Filipino cleaning lady in a state of extreme agitation in front of the ground floor kitchen window . The woman named Maria Santos had been working at Alcassimi for about 1 year and was in charge of cleaning the living areas.

  That day, she was supposed to do the general cleaning of the kitchen but she didn’t have the key to the room.  The cleaning lady tried knocking on the door but received no answer.  Looking out of the kitchen window, she saw open plastic containers on the floor which she initially thought contained meat intended to be frozen.  Upon closer inspection, Maria realized that they were human body parts .

  The containers held two hands, a leg from knee to foot and part of a headless torso.  Everything was carefully packaged and labeled in Arabic with inscriptions indicating that it was frozen kosher products .  Next to the containers was an industrial meat grinder with remnants of biological tissue. The guards called the police and medical services.

  The first group of police officers arrived 20 minutes later and immediately cordoned off the perimeter of the villa.  The kitchen was identified as the scene of the crime and closed for a thorough investigation.  In the house were three Filipino maids and Abdou Halim bin Said Al-Qassimi himself, who was quietly reading the Quran in the living room.

During his arrest, the man in his late twenties offered no resistance and remained perfectly calm.  He answered police questions about what had happened in the kitchen with a monyllabe, invoking his religious obligations to purify the house of all defilement.  Alassimi was taken to the Alqaima race police station for further questioning.

The preliminary examination of the crime scene revealed numerous details indicating systematic violence. In the kitchen freezer, investigators discovered more body parts.  Long dark hair, a lower jaw with teeth, and pieces of fabric embroidered with a name in Latin script.  The expert analysis confirmed that the hair belonged to a European woman in her twenties.

In the room occupied by Alexandra, her personal belongings were found.  clothing, cosmetics, educational materials for learning the Arabic language and a notebook containing notes on local traditions.  Hanging in the wardrobe were traditional dresses and scarves bought after she moved to the United Arab Emirates.

On the dressing table were Russian documents relating to her education and a medical certificate for obtaining a visa.  The search of Alcassimi’s office revealed more disturbing discoveries.  In the office was a folder containing documents relating to the marriage, including a copy of the Nika Nam, the Islamic marriage certificate.

Also found there was Alexandra’s confiscated Russian passport and a visa status change certificate that had never been submitted to the relevant authorities.  Investigators paid particular attention to the diary written in Arabic by Alkassimi.  It contained detailed notes on his wife’s behavior and the disciplinary measures that had been imposed on her.

  The notes dated from January 2023 and documented the progressive tightening of sanctions for various violations of established rules.  The first notes concerned relatively minor remarks: lateness to prayer, poor reading of the Quran, insufficiently modest clothing in the presence of the maids.  The sanctions were limited to being deprived of food for a few hours or being forbidden to leave the room.

Gradually, the list of offences grew longer and now included attempts to contact relatives without authorization.  The expression of dissatisfaction with living conditions and requests for the return of documents.  In May, the grades became more severe.  Alcassimi recorded the application of physical punishment.

  A blow to the palms of the hands with a stick for refusing to do housework.  Chained in metal irons for attempting to leave the room without authorization.  Forced reading of religious texts for several hours at a time.  The last notes dated from mid-June and reported his wife’s total disobedience and the need to take drastic measures.

  Alcassimi wrote that the woman refused to recognize his authority as husband and head of family, which was contrary to Islamic principles of family life.  He considered this behavior an offense to religious feelings and a threat to the spiritual purity of the house.  In the basement of the villa, a small room had been fitted out with metal rings in the walls and chains.

  The servants revealed that Alexandra was regularly locked in this room for several days without food or water, as punishment for serious offenses.  In the room, investigators discovered traces of blood on the floor and walls, as well as scratches on the metal surfaces left by fingernails.  The  home’s CCTV system included cameras in all living areas, including Alexandra’s bedroom and the kitchen.

Alcassimi explained that this was necessary to control compliance with religious precepts and family discipline.  The camera recordings from the two weeks prior to the incident had been completely erased.  But technical expertise made it possible to partially restore some fragments.  The restored footage showed a scene in the kitchen where Alcassimi forced Alexandra to perform humiliating acts.

  The young woman was forced to crawl on the floor and beg forgiveness for disobeying her husband.  Other images show the man hitting her with a leather belt on her back and legs, demanding that she repeat religious formulas in Arabic.  The forensic examination of the remains confirmed the victim’s identity thanks to dental records and DNA samples provided by relatives in Russia.

  The medical examiner determined that the death was due to asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck with a leather belt.  The injuries on the body indicated prolonged physical violence, including multiple hematomas, rib fractures, and damage to internal organs.  The condition of the victim’s hands particularly attracted the attention of experts.

  The nails were completely torn off and the fingers had deep cuts and burns.  These injuries had been inflicted shortly before death and were evidence of the use of torture. Tissue analysis revealed the presence of Diaz and Pam, a sedative that could have been used to neutralize the victim’s resistance.  The toxicological examination also revealed traces of other drugs that had not been prescribed to the girl by doctors.

  Traces of powerful psychotropic substances capable of causing disorientation and suppressing volitional functions were discovered in his body.  This indicated a possible systematic use of chemical substances to control his behavior.  The autopsy revealed that some internal organs had been partially removed after death.

  In particular, part of the liver was missing and other organs in the abdominal cavity were damaged.  The nature of the injuries indicated the use of professional tools to cut the meat, which was consistent with Alqassimi’s activity in the meat processing industry .  The interrogation of Abdou Halim bin Saïd Al-Qassimi took place in the presence of an interpreter and a lawyer appointed by the suspect’s family .

  The man, who was under 20, remained perfectly calm and answered investigators’ questions without showing any signs of emotional tension.  These statements were recorded in Arabic and then translated into English for the minutes.  When asked directly about his wife’s death , Al Cassimi answered in the affirmative, but refused to acknowledge that it was a crime.

According to him, he had every right to punish his wife for disobeying religious precepts and family traditions.  The man claimed to have acted within the framework of Islamic law and to have fulfilled his obligations as head of the family by maintaining order in the house.  The details of Alexandra’s last days, as told by Alk Cassimi, were striking in their insensitivity.

According to him, his wife constantly violated established rules of conduct , refused to study the Quran, and disrespected her husband.  She was secretly trying to contact her relatives in Russia and expressing her desire to return home, which he viewed as a betrayal of his marital obligations.  The decisive conflict took place on June 18 when Alexandra openly declared her intention to leave the house and seek help from the Russian consulate.

Cassimi considered this a definitive violation of marital fidelity and decided to apply the maximum penalty.  He lured his wife into the cellar under the pretext of needing to discuss her behavior and put a leather strap around her neck.  According to the accused’s statements, Alexandra struggled and tried to free herself, but he held the belt until she stopped moving.

After the death, Al Kassimi transported the body to the kitchen where the meat-cutting tools he used in his work were located. The man explained that dismembering the corpse was necessary to purify the house of defilement. In accordance with his understanding of religious norms, the dismemberment took several hours.

  Alcassimi methodically cut up the body using an industrial meat grinder and a sharp knife, then placed the pieces in labeled plastic containers for freezing.  He planned to dispose of the remains completely through the waste treatment system of one of his factories.  He had already managed to remove and destroy the head and some organs before the crime was discovered.

The testimonies of three Filipino housekeepers who worked in the house confirmed the systematic nature of the violence inflicted on Alexandra. Maria Santos, Rosa Fernandez and Gloria Mend testified in detail about what they had observed over several months.  The women were afraid to intervene because of threats of dismissal and expulsion, but she secretly sympathized with the young Russian bride.

  According to the chambermaids, Alexandra often spent her days locked up without food or water.  Al Cassimi would lock him in the cellar, tied to metal chains for the slightest infraction.  Poor pronunciation of Arabic words, slowness in completing household chores, attempt to speak to service staff without authorization. The young girl was visibly losing weight and becoming increasingly withdrawn and frightened.

  The most severe punishments followed Alexandra’s attempts to communicate with the outside world. Alcassimi controlled all his communications and regularly checked his phone for unauthorized calls or messages .  When he discovered infractions, the punishment consisted of hitting the palms of the hands with a wooden stick and forcing the young woman to read religious texts for hours in an uncomfortable position.

The chambermaid, Rosa Fernandez, recounted how, over the past few weeks, Alexandra had repeatedly asked her for help.  The young woman begged him to find a way to send a message to the Russian consulate or to contact her family in Russia. She said she feared for her life and felt that her husband intended to harm her.

The chambermaid wanted to help him but she was afraid of losing her job and being punished.  The house was subject to a strict control system that made any escape or request for help virtually impossible.  All the windows were fitted with bars, the doors were locked with electronic locks and the estate was monitored 24 hours a day.

 Alexandra had no access to money, documents, or means of communication without her husband’s supervision.  Even his trips to the toilet and his showers were controlled and limited in time. Psychological pressure is accompanied by physical exhaustion.  Alexandra received minimal food, was often forced to fast under religious pretexts, and was compelled to perform exhausting household chores.

  She was forced to wash clothes by hand, clean the floors of the house on her knees, and perform other humiliating tasks as part of a process designed to instill submission in her.  The young girl received no medical assistance, even in the event of serious injuries.  The servants saw Alexandra suffering from infections caused by the unsanitary conditions in which she was held in the basement.

  She developed skin diseases, but Alcassimi viewed these diseases as a punishment for her sins and refused to consult doctors.  They prescribed prayers and reading the Quran as treatment.  The religious justification of violence played a central role in Alkassimi’s worldview. He considered himself a truly believing Muslim who applied divine precepts regarding family management.

  According to him, the woman should demonstrate total submission to her husband, the representative of Allah on earth.  Any resistance was considered blasphemy deserving of severe punishment. The investigation established that the online dating platform, through which Alexandra and Alcassimi met, did not carry out sufficient user verification.

The man had provided false information about his family situation and character.  In reality, he had been married three times and all of these previous marriages had ended with the disappearance of his wives under mysterious circumstances. Alcassimi’s first wife, a Filipina named Lourde y Castillo, disappeared in 2016, 8 months after their marriage.

  Officially, she was declared to have left the country of her own free will, but her relatives claimed that she had never made contact with them.  After his disappearance, his second wife, the Pakistani Fatima Ahed, disappeared in 2019 under similar circumstances.  The investigation into his previous cases was reopened after Alcassimi’s arrest.

Police discovered that in both cases, the women had complained to relatives about their husbands’ violence and had expressed fear for their lives.  Their passports had also been confiscated under the pretext of administrative formalities, and their last contact with their relatives had ceased suddenly and without explanation.

Large-scale research has been conducted on the Alcassimi estate using specially trained dogs and ground-penetrating radar equipment. In the garden behind the house, three areas with disturbed soil structure were discovered, which could indicate the presence of burials.  The exhumation revealed the presence of human remains previously identified as belonging to two women of Asian origin.

Further evidence was found in the warehouses of the meat processing plants in Alcassimi. Employees confirmed that the owner regularly brought in additional biological waste to be incinerated in industrial furnaces. He explained this by the need to destroy expired products, but the amount of waste did not correspond to the volume of production.

  An examination of financial documents showed that Alkassimi used online dating platforms to lure victims in order to satisfy his sadistic inclinations.  They specifically sought educated young women from other countries who were in a vulnerable situation and easily manipulated by the prospect of an easy life in a wealthy Arab country.

  His plan was meticulously crafted.  Alkassimi presented himself as a successful businessman and a devout Muslim looking for a partner to start a traditional family.  He promised his wives comfortable living conditions , the opportunity to study Islamic culture and to receive a religious education.  After the women moved to the United Arab Emirates, he isolated them from the outside world and gradually increased his control and violence.

Alcassimi’s psychiatric evaluation revealed signs of antisocial personality disorder with sadistic traits, but he was found responsible for his actions at the time of the events.  The man was fully aware of the illegal nature of these acts, but considered himself entitled to dispose of the life and death of his wives according to a perverted interpretation of religious principles.

  The trial of Abdou Halim bin Saïd al-Qassimi took place behind closed doors at the decision of the Al-Khaima race judicial authorities. The official justification for this confidentiality was the need to protect the dignity of the family from being accused and to avoid any damage to the reputation of the emira.  Relatives of Alexandra Kftsova, who came from Russia, were refused participation in the trial on the pretext that they did not have the necessary documents and had not completed the visa formalities.

  The defense relied on the argument of the accused’s mental alienation and his inability to control his actions due to a senile personality disorder .  Al Cassimi’s lawyers presented the findings of private psychiatrists who diagnosed him with progressive dementia and religious hallucinations.

  According to them, the man did not understand the illegal nature of these acts and was acting under the influence of unhealthy fantasies.  The emirate’s religious council supported this version of the defense, stating that a truly believing Muslim could not commit such crimes while in full possession of his faculties. Representatives of the clergy asserted that Alkassimi’s actions were contrary to the fundamental principles of Islam and could only be the result of mental illness.

  This position made it possible to avoid accusations that the crimes were motivated by religious beliefs.  The court deemed the chambermaids’ testimonies unreliable due to their dependent status and potential interest in obtaining compensation. The defendant’s lawyers claimed that the Filipino women could distort the facts under the influence of promises of financial reward made by the victim’s Russian relatives.

  The court took his arguments into consideration when assessing the evidence.  The examinations of the remains of Alcassimi’s previous wives did not yield conclusive results that would allow for further accusations. The state of the bone tissue did not allow for a precise determination of the cause of death, and the absence of identity documents complicated identification.

The investigation had to focus solely on the Alexandra Criftsova case.  The only one with  sufficient evidence.  The prosecution has requested the death penalty for premeditated murder with particular cruelty.  But the defense insisted that the accused be declared criminally irresponsible and subjected to compulsory treatment.

The legal proceedings lasted several weeks with the participation of religious authorities and medical experts.  The position of influential members of the ruling family of the emirate, who spoke out in favor of as lenient a sentence as possible, played a decisive role.  The court’s final decision was a compromise between the demands of justice and the need to preserve the reputation of local elites.

  Abdou Halim bin Said Al-Qassimi was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter due to a mental disorder.  The court decided to send him back for compulsory treatment in a private psychiatric clinic in Hemman, with a review of the case in 5 years.  This sentence has sparked outrage from Russia and  human rights organizations.  But official protests did not lead to a review of the decision.

  The authorities in the United Arab Emirates stated that the verdict was in accordance with local law and took into account all the circumstances of the case.  Russia’s diplomatic attempts to secure a harsher sentence for the murderer were met with formal apologies, citing the independence of the emirate’s judicial system .

  Alexandra Kriftsova’s parents only received official notification of their daughter’s death two months after the verdict was handed down. The document stated that the young girl had died as a result of a family tragedy and that she had been buried according to local traditions. Details of the crime and trial have not been disclosed under the pretext of protecting private information.

Attempts by relatives to recover the body for burial in Russia were rejected by local authorities.  The official justification was the need to respect Islamic funeral rites and the impossibility of exhuming the body after the celebration of religious rites.  In reality, Alexandra’s remains were cremated without the family’s consent and her ashes were scattered in the desert outside the city.

Alexandra Kftsova’s Russian passport was destroyed on the orders of local authorities as a document belonging to a person who had converted to Islam and received a new nome. The Russian consulate was informed that the citizen had voluntarily renounced her Russian nationality in favour of the status of wife of a citizen of the United Arab Emirates , which excluded any further claim by Russia.

   Media outlets in the United Arab Emirates received tacit instructions not to cover the Alcassimi case so as not to harm the region’s tourist appeal .  Local journalists who attempted to investigate the circumstances of the crime faced obstacles in obtaining information and pressure from the authorities. Several publications in independent media were quickly removed at the request of the censors.

International human rights organizations have tried to draw attention to this case as an example of systemic discrimination against women in some Arab countries.  However, their efforts have not received widespread attention due to the geopolitical interests of Western countries in maintaining good relations with the United Arab Emirates.

Economic relations have proven more important than the protection of human rights and justice for victims of crime.  The private psychiatric clinic in Ajman where Alcassimi was treated belonged to distant relatives and offered the most  comfortable conditions of detention possible.  The patient lived in a separate cottage on the grounds of the medical center with his private staff and the possibility of receiving visitors.

  The treatment regime was more like a respectable vacation than a forced hospitalization. Medical reports on the state of alcassemia were written in a formal manner and contained standard phrases about the progressive improvement of the patient’s mental health .  The clinic’s doctors regularly reported to the judicial authorities on the progress made in the treatment and made optimistic predictions regarding the possibility of early release.

No independent specialist had access to the patient’s examination.  Two years after the start of treatment, Alcassimi’s state was reassessed by a medical commission which concluded that he had made a full recovery and posed no danger to society.  The man was released from the clinic with the recommendation to continue outpatient follow-up and to undergo regular preventative examinations.

  In fact, he obtained total freedom of action and the opportunity to resume a normal life.  After his release, Alcassimi resumed control of his business enterprises and restarted his activities on online dating platforms under new names.  Law enforcement did not exercise any control over him and his criminal record was officially expunged under an amnesty granted to people with mental disorders.

The public was not informed of the  murderer’s release and return to normal life.  The Alexandra Criftsova case is one of many examples showing how corruption, religious fanaticism and legal irresponsibility can lead to impunity for the most brutal crimes.  This young Russian student, who dreamed of studying Eastern culture and starting a family, fell victim to a system that values the reputation of influential families more than human life and justice.