DUBAI // A drunk Kenyan cook is being charged with premeditated murder after a witness spotted him repeatedly pushing his colleague’s head under water at a Jumeirah open beach.
After a medical report showed that the dead man had high levels of alcohol in his system and there were no signs of assault, it looked like it would be a simple case of drowning, until another cook and the owner of the restaurant where they all worked started asking questions.
The 30-year-old defendant was at the beach on January 22 with the deceased and two others, aged 25 and 30, all of whom are from Kenya and worked at the same restaurant.
The defendant and the deceased went for a swim and, shortly after, the cook came back alone.
“When the others asked him about the victim, he said he didn’t know and took his belongings then left,” said a 28-year-old Emirati policeman.
Drowning was stated as the cause of death and the medical report said that he may have lost control while at sea.
However, the other cook at the restaurant and the owner gave evidence that led police to investigate the death.
“I told the restaurant owner that this was a murder because, on the day of the incident, I met with one of the defendants and he confessed to me that he saw as the killer kept pushing the victim’s head under water,” said the other Kenyan cook, 26.
The 54-year-old Italian restaurant owner told prosecutors he was told a day after the incident that the death was not normal.
“I told him [the 26-year-old cook] to make sure so he started asking around and he was told that the victim was not alone at sea and that he was drowned deliberately by one of his friends, so we headed to the police station and reported the matter,” the restaurant owner said.
The defendant denied killing his compatriot, saying that he was playing with him when he pushed his head under water but that he did not kill him.
The two others present at the beach are charged with aiding and abetting for being aware of the crime and failing to alert authorities, while the main defendant is also charged with drinking alcohol without a licence.
One of the two appeared in court and denied aiding and abetting. The court ordered him to summon his co-accused for the next hearing, as he knows his whereabouts.
The next hearing will be on July 17.
salamir@thenational.ae