Dubai: A man has been cleared of threatening to kill a businesswoman who had hired him at her restaurant.
In April, the 26-year-old Pakistani man was hired by the Chinese woman to work in her Chinese restaurant at Dubai International City on a trial basis for a week.
Citing lack of strong evidence, presiding judge Urfan Omar acquitted the man at the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.
He had earlier pleaded innocent. “I did not threaten her. I went there to get back my passport and when she refused to give it back, I threatened to kill myself,” the man told the court.
According to records, several customers had complained to the businesswoman that the man was rude and rowdy.
When she asked him to leave, the man allegedly had a heated argument and also broke the mobile phone of the owner’s Chinese business-partner.
The woman called the police who helped resolve the matter amicably. It was agreed that the man will work at the restaurant till he pays for the damages caused. The woman kept his passport as a guarantee.
A few days later, however, the woman sacked him because he was lazy and mostly busy on his phone while on duty.
She went to the police station, handed over the man’s passport and told them that she did not want him to work for her anymore. She told the police that she just wanted the man to pay for the damages he had caused.
Later that day, the man allegedly stormed into the restaurant, yelled at the businesswoman, picked up a knife from the kitchen and threatened to kill her if she did not return his passport.
She instantly called the police who apprehended the man.
Her business-partner alleged in her statement that they decided not to hire the man because customers complained about his rude behaviour.
“We learnt that he had a criminal record in Britain. We told him that we would give him back his passport once he paid for the damaged phone,” she claimed.
The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
