Dubai: A Pakistani worker has been sentenced to 15 years in jail after a court convicted him of stabbing his compatriot to death.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found the 30-year-old worker, S.H., guilty of premeditatedly killing the victim, A.K., at the workers' accommodation where they stayed.
Pronouncing Thursday's judgment, Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad said the accused will be deported after the completion of his punishment.
"A.K. carried a knife and walked into my place. We fought and when he tried to stab me, I took away the knife from him and stabbed him in self-defence. He repeatedly hit me on my head but I defended myself…other men who witnessed the fight didn't intervene to stop the quarrel," argued S.H. who pleaded innocent before the court.
Prosecutors charged S.H. with the premeditated killing of his compatriot victim. Records said the defendant stabbed A.K. repeatedly in his chest and stomach.
When Presiding Judge Abdul Jawad referred to the charges against S.H., the accused argued: "I didn't intend to kill him. He started the attack and I took away the knife from his hands and stabbed him…I killed him by mistake."
An Emirati police corporal testified that the murder happened in workers' accommodation in Jebel Ali.
"When I examined the victim's body, I found the handle of a knife broken inside his chest. A man, named M.E., confessed that a group fight erupted between him and three other men, including S.H. and A.K. Primary interrogations with M.E. and other witnesses exposed that S.H. stabbed the victim.
The primary judgment is still subject to appeal within 15 days.
