Dubai: Two blacksmiths have been accused of fighting and stabbing each other with a knife following a heated argument during dinner, heard a court on Sunday.
A group of Afghans, including the two blacksmiths, were having dinner at their shared residence at a workers’ accommodation in Marmoum area in March.
The blacksmiths, aged 23 and 21, and their roommates were dining when they indulged in a heated argument, according to records, before they exchanged foul language.
The two then traded blows, and the 23-year-old man took a knife and stabbed the 21 year old in his belly.
The 21-year-old victim then snatched the knife from his assailant and stabbed him in his hand in what he claimed to be an act of ‘self defence’, records said.
Others intervened to stop the fight and called the police and an ambulance.
Police arrested the two after on-site investigations.
The two suspects were rushed to hospital where swift medical intervention helped save the life of the 21-year-old blacksmith, who had been stabbed in his stomach.
Prosecutors charged the 23 year old with attempting to kill the 21 year old by stabbing in his belly. The 21 year old was accused of assaulting the 23 year old with a knife as well.
According to the charges, prosecutors said the 21 year old inflicted a 5 per cent permanent disability to the other suspect.
The suspects failed to show up before the Dubai Court of First Instance where they were scheduled to enter their pleas on Sunday.
A police corporal told prosecutors that the suspects exchanged assault over dinner following a heated argument.
“Once we arrived at the accommodations, we were informed that the 21 year old had been stabbed in his stomach and rushed to hospital. Meanwhile, witnesses alerted us that the 23 year old suspect and his co-worker had fled from the scene shortly after the stabbing. We recovered the knife and combed the surroundings of the accommodation in search of the suspects … we apprehended the 23-year-old suspect, who was found nearby and his hand was bleeding. The co-worker and another person were apprehended the next day but later their cases were dismissed,” he told prosecutors.
An Afghan driver told prosecutors that the suspects had a fight a day before the incident.
“They had a heated argument and fought but we intervened and stopped them … the next day at 7pm, the 23-year-old suspect and his co-worker lured the 21 year old to a room where they struck him with a wooden rod. I warned all to stop fighting and concentrate on work … they fought again and assaulted each other with a knife,” he told prosecutors.
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi adjourned the case until the suspects are legally notified about the upcoming hearing on September 9.
