DUBAI // A 22-year-old electrician who slashed his colleague’s throat after an argument about the latter’s smelly feet has been sentenced to five years in prison.
At Dubai Criminal Court last March, the Pakistani denied a charge of premeditated murder and said that he was only defending himself.
“I didn’t mean to end his life,” he told judges.
On July 26, the defendant and his compatriot were taking their midday break in a rest area at a worksite in Al Rashidiyah.
Both men had lain down to sleep when the defendant asked his colleague to move his feet away from him because they smelt bad.
“Other workers told me the two men engaged in a heated argument then in a fist fight when the deceased refused to move his feet and insulted the defendant’s family,” said a Syrian supervisor at the worksite.
“I had them all leave the rest room and take a rest outside, then as I was walking towards my car a worker ran towards me and said the defendant had attacked the deceased with a blade,” he said.
The supervisor rushed back and handed the victim a scarf to wrap around the wound, which was bleeding heavily, before calling for an ambulance. By the time paramedics arrived, the man was already dead.
“We got there and saw the victim on the ground and the defendant standing next to him,” a police officer said.
A co-worker said the two men had never fought before. “When the fight happened, the defendant left the room. We were all evicted from the room and, as we were walking out, he came from behind and attacked our colleague,” a Pakistani worker said.
The policeman said: “He was denying the attack although his clothes were bloodied and the blade was found next to him at the crime scene. But he confessed and said he got furious when the man insulted his family.”
The electrician will be deported upon completion of his sentence.
salamir@thenational.ae
