Dubai: A worker, who knifed his roommate to death for constantly groping him and asking to have sex with him, has been jailed for 10 years.

The 32-year-old Pakistani worker took his countryman roommate by surprise and stabbed him repeatedly near the washroom of their labour accommodation in December.

The defendant told police interrogators that the victim had been making sexual advances and constantly groped his back in front of friends and visitors.

The victim’s bloodstains covered the clothes of the worker, who was apprehended shortly after the incident happened around 4am.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the accused of killing his countryman although he had pleaded not guilty.

Defending himself in court, the defendant argued that the victim was the one who carried the knife. He contended that he snatched it from the victim’s hand and attacked him but did not intend to kill him.

On Tuesday, presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the accused will be deported after serving his jail term.

An Indian dye worker said a worker knocked on his room’s door while sleeping and informed him that the deceased was bleeding profusely near the washroom at 4am. A police captain testified that the victim had several knife wounds on his body that was lying between the kitchen and the washroom.

A policeman said he apprehended the accused after he saw bloodstains on his Pakistani outfit.

“When I asked him about the bloodstains, he immediately admitted that he had stabbed the victim. The accused said during questioning that he had been staying at the accommodation for some time … during which, he [the suspect] said, the victim groped his posterior and asked to have sex with him. The defendant claimed that he had been dodging the victim’s sexual advances … on the day of the incident, he said the victim followed him into the washroom at 4am and asked to have sex with him. They fought and he stabbed the victim with a knife that he took from the kitchen,” the policeman claimed.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.