DUBAI // An Indian man suffered fatal injuries in a beating by five Bangladeshi workers triggered by a conversation he started about the quality of their work, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday.
The defendants, aged between 23 and 30, confessed to physical assault but denied any intention to end the man’s life. Prosecutors have charged them with assault that caused death rather than murder due to a medical report stating that his injuries did not directly kill him.
The incident occurred in labour accommodation in Al Quoz industrial area on August 27 at about 8.30pm.
“I was there when the victim started talking to the defendant about his work and suddenly he kicked him in the chest and called his friends to join in the attack but one of them did not take part in the attack, he was just there,” said a 26-year-old Indian cleaner who works at the same cleaning services company as the defendants.
The witness said the men kicked and punched the Indian for more than 10 minutes and his attempts to help were thwarted as he was outnumbered.
“One of them punched the man’s head to the wall then he started vomiting blood,” said the witness, who called his supervisor then police.
A medical report said the deceased suffered several fractures, including to his spine, but it concluded that none of the fractures or injuries caused his death.
The report instead blamed ‘Post Exercise Peril’, which happens to people after putting a great effort into a fight or exercise, causing a severe drop in potassium levels, which in turn affects the heart.
The next hearing is on December 6.
salamir@thenational.ae
