Worker jailed for stabbing carpenter

Dubai: A man, who stabbed his workmate with a knife in a room that they shared, has been jailed for five years.

The 23-year-old Pakistani worker, Q.M., lured his countryman carpenter, M.R., into the room claiming that he wanted to give him his credit card which he had lost before he stabbed him three times in September last year.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted Q.M. of attempting to kill his workmate by stabbing him in his stomach, back and chest.

Swift medical intervention helped save M.R.’s life after his friends contacted an ambulance immediately after the incident.

The accused pleaded innocent, arguing that he was defending himself when M.R. attacked him.

“I did not have any intention to kill him. He is the one who attacked me first and I grabbed the knife and stabbed him in self-defence,” Q.M. told the court.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the convict will be deported after serving his imprisonment. The weapon was confiscated.

The defendant had intended to kill his countryman as he had concealed his knife under his clothes, according to records, before he called M.R. into the room. Once the victim entered the room, Q.M. pulled out the knife and stabbed M.R. three times.

The defendant was handed a stern punishment despite having provided the court with a written waiver that he had obtained from M.R.

The reasons behind the stabbing remain undisclosed, as per records.

The carpenter testified that the incident happened after Q.M. called him into the room to give him his credit card.

“I had lost my credit card and had been looking for it for a while. At 6pm, the defendant called me to the room claiming that he had found my card. Once I walked into the room, the accused asked me to sit on the bed and locked the door. Then he turned off the light. He pulled out a small knife and stabbed me in different parts of my body. I tried to defend myself and grabbed the blade but the knife broke in Q.M.’s hand. I walked a few steps and collapsed unconscious after I had opened the door. Friends rushed me to the ambulance,” claimed M.R.

A witness said he heard a loud cry before M.R. opened the door and walked out before he dropped on the ground bleeding. His clothes were torn.

Records said workers and friends held the defendant until police came.

Tuesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.