DUBAI // A baker who repeatedly stabbed two prostitutes denied that he intended to kill them, saying he was forced to do it by a group of men.
The 22-year-old Afghan defendant is accused of attacking the women on March 26 last year.
That night, police received a report of the incident in Naif and patrols surrounded the location but only after the man had fled.
The two women were found outside the building where the alleged stabbing happened, in shock and bleeding heavily. They were taken to Rashid Hospital, where they received treatment for multiple wounds to the face, neck and shoulders.
A Yemeni policeman, 48, said: “As I was searching the area with my colleague, a Pakistani man told us where he had seen the attacker. We then followed blood drops on the side of the road, which led us to the defendant.”
He said that the attacker was standing near a shop and bleeding heavily from a deep cut in his thigh. The defendant was arrested and no weapons were found in his possession.
One of the women, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi, said the defendant started stabbing her and her Indonesian friend as they entered a flat on the first floor of the building.
“He first stabbed me in the head, then face, neck, shoulder and chest. At that point I just fell and saw him as he walked towards my friend,” said the prostitute, who was found to have HIV.
The 35-year-old Indonesian woman said she was stabbed in the head, face, neck, shoulders and back.
Prosecutors said the Afghan confessed to assaulting the women using a blade and that he said he stabbed them in an attempt to end their lives.
In court on Monday, he denied the attempted murder charge. “I didn’t mean to kill them, I was forced to attack them by a number of Bangladeshi men who were waiting for me outside,” the defendant said to judges.
No details about the reason for the attack were available.
A verdict is expected on February 27.
salamir@thenational.ae