Man accused of dropping rock on friend’s head denies murder, Dubai court hears

DUBAI // A technician pushed a large rock off the roof of an eight-storey building on to two friends sitting below, killing one instantly and injuring the other, a court has been told.

Dubai Criminal Court was told the three Indian friends had been drinking alcohol at a farewell party for another man on the night of March 30.

They went to a restaurant where the technician, 25, argued with the manager. All three were kicked out.

Hungry and angry as they walked to their Jebel Ali accommodation, the man who was later killed, aged 24, blamed the technician for having them kicked out and pushed him to the ground.

The two friends left him there, a policeman said.

The technician returned to their flat in the early hours of the morning and saw his friends sitting at the foot of their building.

He told them he needed to go upstairs to collect his clothes, which had been hung up to dry. When he was on the roof, he pushed the rock off the ledge and it hit his friends below, the court heard.

“After the rock landed on my friend’s head it hit my right leg,” said the 27-year-old plaintiff. “I looked up and saw the defendant, who came a few minutes later trying to help me. But I asked him to help our friend, who was unconscious and bleeding heavily from the head.”

In court, the technician denied planning to kill his compatriots, although he admitted to having consumed alcohol before the incident.

The next hearing is scheduled for September 18 when a defence lawyer will be appointed.