DUBAI // A life sentence against a technician who pushed a rock off the roof of an eight-storey building on to two friends sitting below, killing one instantly and injuring the other, was upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal.
The 25-year-old Indian was convicted of premeditated murder and physical assault after the incident on March 30, 2015.
He and the two other Indian friends had been drinking alcohol at a farewell party for another man that night, after which they went to a restaurant where the technician argued with the manager and all three were kicked out.
Hungry and angry as they walked to their Jebel Ali accommodation, the 24-year-old man who was later killed 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 the 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.
“After the rock landed on my friend’s head, it hit my right leg,” said the other Indian, 27.
“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.”
The technician denied planning to kill his compatriots, although he admitted to having consumed alcohol before the incident.
The killer was handed a life sentence and will be deported after serving his prison sentence. Life in the UAE is 25 years.
salamir@thenational.ae
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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