Dubai: A worker has been accused of repeatedly pounding his co-worker’s head with an iron bar and killing him after the latter recorded him on video urinating in public.
The 29-year-old Bangladeshi worker, A.S., was said to be heavily drunk when he picked up fight with his countryman, S.I., then beat him with a bar repeatedly and killed him in November.
Prosecutors accused A.S. of intentionally murdering S.I.
“I was very drunk. I did not realise what I did. I beat him on his head, but I did not intend to kill him,” said the defendant when he entered his plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
“Did you intend to assault the deceased or end his life?” presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat asked the suspect.
“I had consumed too much liquor and was heavily intoxicated. We had a heated argument that developed into a fight. He beat me first and then pushed me down to the ground. I saw the iron bar beside me, so I picked it up and beat him. I did not intend to kill him,” replied the worker.
According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said the defendant pounded the victim on the left side of his head and intended to kill him.
“Why did you pound his head five times repeatedly after he fell down?” the presiding judge asked the suspect.
“I was too drunk to realise what I did,” claimed the worker.
A police captain testified to prosecutors that a witness reported Dubai Police’s Operation Room about a fatal assault incident at a construction site around 2.50am.
“With the help of police sniffer dogs, police were able to find the murder weapon in a sandy area facing the site where the alleged murder happened. Based on the description that was given to the police by a witness who spotted the defendant running away from the crime scene, A.S. was detained after two days. During questioning, the suspect alleged he was sleeping in the building under construction. He claimed he woke around midnight to answer the call of nature. S.I. used his mobile phone, according to A.S.’s confession, to record the suspect urinating. The defendant claimed S.I. threatened to publish his [A.S.] footage answering the call of nature in case he did not tidy up the place. The suspect claimed he had earlier lent the victim Dh500… so after he cleaned up the ground, according to his allegations, they discussed the debt issue. Then they had a heated argument which developed into a fight before A.S. beat S.I. with the bar,” the captain claimed to prosecutors.
The court will appoint a lawyer to defend A.S. when it reconvenes on February 9.
