Dubai: Police have arrested three men for allegedly causing the death of a mentally ill blind man in a bid rid his body of a "jinn".

Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director of Criminal and Investigation Department (CID) at Dubai Police, said that a pharmacist and two other Arab men were arrested for causing the death of a 29-year-old father of three who suffered from psychological problems.

The suspects took him to Jumeirah open beach to treat him. They forced him to stay under water for more than five minutes several times until he died. They were trying to rid him of a "jinn", which the pharmacist told them was the cause of his sickness.

Brigadier Al Mansouri said that a Sudanese pharmacist, who is suspected of suffering from mental problems after he lost his job in a private hospital, instructed friends to take him to Jumeirah beach and to keep him under the water so that he would be rid of the jinn inside him. The incident happened last Wednesday evening.

The two men told police that they never thought that the man would drown and die.

Brigadier Al Mansouri said the victim had come to the country recently on a visit visa and that he met the pharmacist at the Sudanese community social club and that the victim told the pharmacist that he suffered from epilepsy and that he had no relatives here.

The pharmacist told his victim that he could treat him.

A day before his death the victim who suffered from epilepsyd went out in the street and started screaming and reciting verses from the Quran loudly. He was taken by police to Naif police station and then to Rashid Hospital for treatment.

The pharmacist told his victim that he was possessed by a "jinn" and read verses from the Quran to him and when he finished reading, he asked him to go to the sea to bathe until the jinn left his body.

The victim went to the beach with his friends on Wednesday evening. They put his head under the water several times till he lost consciousness and after 20 minutes he stopped breathing.

Police said a British man and his wife, who were on the beach at the time, saw what happened and called the police.