Dubai: An employee has been accused of cursing and assaulting two drivers and threatening to behead them if they ever sat in front of his sister’s house in Hatta.

The 33-year-old Emirati employee, N.R., was said to have assaulted the drivers, an Afghan and a Pakistani, and then cursed them in the street before he threatened to chop off their heads off in March.

The 30-year-old Afghan, D.J., and the 32-year-old Pakistani, S.N., were also accused of assaulting N.R. and injuring his finger.

“I did not curse or threaten them,” argued the Emirati when he entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

“Did you hit them and threaten to behead them if they sat in front of your sister’s house?” presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat asked N.R.

“They are the ones who attacked me first and twisted my finger… I defended myself and hit them back,” he replied.

Meanwhile the drivers strongly denied assaulting the Emirati and accused him of assaulting and cursing them.

According to their statements before prosecutors, the drivers alleged that they were waiting for the Maghreb prayers to go to the mosque.

During the trial, en elderly Emirati man was spotted approaching the judges’ bench and requesting permission to talk.

After obtaining presiding judge Abdul Lat’s permission, the elderly man told the court: “I am S.N.’s sponsor. This man [pointing at N.R.] is not saying the truth. He is the one who assaulted the drivers and threatened them.”

When asked if he was present at the scene and witnessed what happened, the elderly man replied: “My son called me when I was in Oman and told me what happened. When I came to the police station, I learnt the details of what happened. The drivers did not injure his finger, but he incurred that injury prior to this incident.”

In his capacity as a victim, D.J. testified to prosecutors that N.R. attacked them and threatened to chop off their heads while they were waiting for the call for prayers at 6pm.

“He stopped his car in front of us and told us that we were not supposed to sit in that place. When I turned to S.N. to tell him to leave, the suspect had stepped out of his car and came to us. He slapped me and punched me in the shoulder. ‘I will take you to the farm and chop your heads’, he shouted. He also cursed us. I asked my friend [S.N.] not to reply and we called the police,” the Afghan claimed.

The court will hear prosecution witnesses when it reconvenes on November 10.