DUBAI // A labourer stabbed his friend to death in a drunken fight over a Dh500 debt, a court heard on Tuesday.
S J, 28, from Nepal, met his friend and compatriot Dadandra Rayee in a car park near their labour camp for a drinking session.
But an argument broke out and the labourer stabbed his friend in the neck and belly, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.
They said the murder took place on May 17 after Rayee told his friend he would not repay Dh500 he had borrowed three months earlier.
The labourer then went to a supermarket, bought a knife and returned to Rayee, who was still drinking, and asked him again about the money.
When Rayee repeated that he would not repay the debt the labourer stabbed him in the neck and abdomen, the court heard. He left the knife at the scene and left.
When he returned to the labour camp he confided in a security guard that he had killed his friend.
The security guard M K, 34, from Bangladesh, said that when the labourer approached he had blood all over his hands.
“He told me he killed someone but without saying who, so I called police,” the guard said.
Prosecutors said the labourer confessed during interrogation but in court he pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder.
The case was adjourned to December 24.
salamir@thenational.ae