Dubai: A student lost his appeal and will be jailed for six months for assaulting a deliveryman and setting his motorbike on fire after the latter nearly knocked him down while performing stunts.
The 21-year-old Emirati student, K.A., opened the petrol tank of the Bangladeshi deliveryman’s motorbike and put a lit matchstick inside in May.
The Dubai Appeal Court rejected K.A.’s appeal and upheld his six-month imprisonment for setting the deliveryman’s motorbike on fire deliberately.
Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm also confirmed a Dh3,000 fine that the defendant has to pay for punching the deliveryman, A.A., repeatedly until he dropped to the ground in Oud Al Muteena.
When he defended himself before the appeal court, the defendant claimed that the victim almost knocked his down and injured him while driving.
A.A. testified that the accused stopped him suddenly in the street at 11.30am and assaulted him.
“I was taking a delivery to a client. The defendant stopped me suddenly in the street … he grabbed me by my shirt and dropped me from the motorbike. He punched me and took away the key. He asked me to give him the money I had on me … but I freed myself and hid behind a tree. Then he opened the petrol tank and lit a matchstick and threw it inside. The motorbike was gutted completely … I fled and reported the matter to the police,” A.A. claimed.
A policeman said he rushed to the crime scene once a fire in Oud Al Muteena 1 area was reported.
“The defendant was at the same spot when I arrived. The motorbike was gutted. When I asked him why he had set the vehicle on fire, he said the Bangladeshi had tried to knock him down. K.A. said he beat the deliveryman and set his motorbike on fire. When asked about A.A., the defendant said that he ran away,” testified the policeman.
A sergeant cited the accused as saying that when A.A. performed stunts on his motorbike and almost hit him, he beat him because he was angry.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 25 days.
