Two accused of assaulting elderly man with iron bar

Dubai: Two men have been accused of assaulting an elderly man with an iron bar and fracturing his finger after he asked them to stop inviting passers-by to a nearby brothel.

The 68-year-old Syrian man testified that he was assaulted when he asked a group of Bangladeshi men to move on as they were hanging around his residence, asking people if they wanted to have sex.

Prosecutors accused the Bangladeshi suspects, 22-year-old S.A., and 24-year-old M.D., of attacking 68-year-old G.A, fracturing his ring finger and causing him a one per cent permanent disability.

When the suspects appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, they denied the charges.

“I swear by the Quran that we did not hit him. We did not touch him,” argued S.A. when he defended himself before Presiding Judge Ahmad Abdul Mohsin.

M.D. said: “That did not happen at all.”

G.A. claimed to prosecutors that the alleged assault had occurred at the entrance of the building where he resides in Fraij Al Marar.

“A mass of Bangladeshis constantly group in front of the building and stop people who pass by and ask them if they want to have sex. This [has] often caused trouble [for] the neighbours and embarrassed them as well,” G.A. said.

G.A. said he approached the suspects on the day in question and asked them to group elsewhere.

“They refused and insisted on remaining in that spot. When I asked them for a second time, one of the defendants yelled at me, then he came close by and punched me,” G.A. said.

“I immediately tried to grab him, but he called his friends. They ran towards me all of them wanting to assault me. One of them hit my hand with an iron bar that was in his hand,” he added.

“A group of Pakistani men... spotted what happened. They rushed to help me and that’s when the Bangladeshi men [fled]. I managed to keep hold of the two suspects until police came and took them away.”

The verdict will be heard on September 3.