Dubai: The lawyer of a man accused of decapitating his co-worker said in court on Monday that his client was provoked after the victim boasted about killing his brother in Pakistan.
Two Pakistani farmers stand accused of decapitating their countryman with axes in a revenge killing after his brother murdered the brother of one of the assailants following a land dispute in their homeland.
The two farmers pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
“The victim had been constantly provoking my client [brother of the person who was killed in Pakistan] and bragging about murdering his brother in Pakistan. Following the funeral in Pakistan, my client returned to Dubai and since they work in gardening in the same gated community in Dubai, they met daily around the area. My client repeatedly warned the victim to stop provoking him and boasting about the act of killing his brother. Despite having repeatedly warned the victim to stop inciting him, the 33-year-old defendant was under critical pressure and he had been aggravated by the victim’s insulting and confrontational attitude when he hit him twice in the head and the neck with an axe,” his lawyer Maasouma Al Sayegh of Dar Al Balagh Advocates and Legal Consultants argued in court on Monday.
Records said the families of one of the suspected farmers and the victim were said to have been in a land dispute in Pakistan and that resulted in the co-worker’s brother killing the 33-year-old’s brother.
Blinded by revenge, according to records, the 33-year-old defendant, whose brother was killed in Pakistan, talked to his 32-year-old countryman farmer to help him get rid of the co-worker.
The two defendants armed with axes, blocked the way of the co-worker who was riding his bicycle in The Meadows, and repeatedly assaulted him until he died in December.
A European resident was the first person to spot the victim’s partly decapitated body and informed the police about it.
Lawyer Al Sayegh contended before presiding judge Urfan Omar: “My client constantly tried to avoid the victim and dodge his continuous attempts to provoke him about the death of his brother in their country. For nearly 20 days, he did so, until he failed to control himself and prevent himself from killing the victim. The 33-year-old defendant did not have a premeditated intention to kill the victim … he had not planned that in advance and it was a moment of anger. Obviously, he constantly carries an axe due to the nature of his job. We ask the court to treat him with utmost leniency.”
The 32-year-old suspect did not have any motive to kill the victim and did not participate in the murder, said the lawyer.
“We ask the court to acquit him of any wrongdoing since the 32-year-old suspect did not even assault the co-worker,” said Al Sayegh.
On-site investigation revealed that the co-worker had been revengefully attacked and murdered as he was hit on his head and neck.
Preliminary police investigation revealed that the two farmers went to to Al Ain after the murder and were trying to flee to Oman from there.
The duo’s attempt to cross the border was foiled and they were apprehended and handed over to Dubai Police.
A ruling in the case will be heard on November 13.
