Dubai: A man has been jailed for three months for setting his friend’s vehicle ablaze in an fit of rage as the car owner was late in repaying his debt.
On Sunday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Pakistani defendant, 34, of using a lighter to set on fire the cabin of the pickup vehicle that was parked in the sandy area at Al Quoz Industrial area.
The accused was also fined Dh11,000 and will be deported after serving his term, said presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.
When he appeared in court, the accused argued that he lent money to his friend and later asked him to repay the money because his wife was sick.
“I needed money for her treatment. He kept delaying the payment and later stopped answering my calls … so I set his pickup on fire,” the defendant contended in court.
Records said the Pakistani victim parked his pickup near his company’s accommodation and after an hour he received a call from a friend that his vehicle was on fire in July.
“I went to the car, but it wasn’t where I had parked it. I called my friend back, who told me that he saw my vehicle burning behind the accommodation. I ran to the place and saw firemen trying to extinguish the blaze. I did not know how the car was moved to that area,” the 24-year-old driver said.
Dubai Police launched an investigation and discovered that the defendant used a lighter and a pile of papers inside the car’s cabin to start the fire.
“I don’t know why he set fire to the car,” the victim said.
Sunday’s ruling remains subject to appeal.
