Four admit assault and kidnap of man over Dh6,600 debt

Pakistani defendants tell court they are sorry after brutal attack in the street.

Four Pakistanis pleaded guilty to kidnapping their countryman and threatening to kill him if he did not return money he owed them.

The victim, whose age was not given, borrowed Dh6,600 from two of the defendants last year and had not repaid it since, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Wednesday.

“On April 11 this year at about 10pm, I saw the man from whom I borrowed the money. He was standing with his brother and two others near my home at International City. They called to me then he asked me about the loan; I told him I hadn’t managed to get the cash yet,” said the 33-year-old victim.

The four men attacked him, he said, and beat him up before they dragged him into a car.

They took him to a remote area in Al Khawaneej and threatened him with a knife. “They told me they would kill me with the knife if I didn’t repay the amount,” said the man, who was later taken back to his home.

He went to Rashidiyah police station and reported them. The men were arrested the same day.

A Pakistani worker who witnessed the assault, said: “I saw them assaulting him. He was bleeding from the head and I tried to help but they intimidated me then took him in a car and left.”

An Emirati police officer said that, during questioning, the man who gave the victim a loan admitted the incident and said that he became desperate after failing to get his money back.

“He told me that the victim promised to return the money in instalments but, since he took it, he gave him nothing and disappeared,” said the officer, 30.

“We are sorry, we didn’t mean to cause harm,” the four defendants, aged between 26 and 43, said in court.

A verdict will be issued on July 30.