A construction worker who murdered his colleague to avoid returning to his home country has been sentenced to life in prison by Dubai Criminal Court.
On February 26, the Pakistani accused, 27, jumped onto his napping Indian colleague, at a construction site in Nad Al Hamar, and strangled him with his scarf.
Workers nearby tried to stop the accused and called police, who arrived to find the attacker restrained by his colleagues.
"We screamed at him and ran towards him, but by the time we got there, the victim's face was bloated and he was bleeding from the nose," said one Egyptian worker.
The victim died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
The workers told police that, to their knowledge, the two men had not previously argued.
During questioning, the accused told police he killed the man so he would be jailed rather than return to his home country.
"He also told me that he specifically picked this victim because he was old and would not resist," the policeman said.
The accused told investigators that his brother in Pakistan had received naked pictures of him from a man who was blackmailing him, leaving him ashamed to return to the country.
At Dubai Criminal Court, the man admitted to a charge of premeditated murder.
On Monday, he was sentenced to life in prison to be followed by deportation.
