Dubai: A student attacked two employees with a sword and chopped off their fingers following a road rage incident on Al Maktoum Street, a court heard on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Emirati student allegedly attacked three Pakistani employees before he blocked their way at a traffic signal in June.
The student jumped out of his sports utility vehicle, according to records, and attacked the Pakistani trio in the middle of the street. Two Pakistanis lost one finger each while attempting to dodge the sword attack and avoid being killed.
After the incident, the Emirati suspect walked into a police station and claimed he was attacked at the traffic signal and that he had been hurt.
The policeman, who responded to the student, told him to go to the hospital and bring a medical report to pursue legal action against his alleged assailants.
Records showed the student went to the hospital but never returned to the police station. Meanwhile, Dubai Police’s operation room was notified that a man had attacked three men and two of them were seriously injured and had lost their fingers.
Prosecutors accused the 20-year-old of attempting to murder the three employees.
On Thursday, the suspect failed to show up before the Dubai Court of First Instance where he was scheduled to enter his plea.
Prosecutors said one employee had a left-hand finger chopped off, while another had a right-hand finger chopped off and two other fingers partly severed.
A 24-year-old victim testified to prosecutors that he was driving his vehicle in the proper lane when the suspect tossed a cigarette into his car.
“The student drove his car parallel to my vehicle and tossed a cigarette … I did not react because it was obvious that he was picking on us and trying to provoke us into fighting with him. When we reached the traffic light, he suddenly swerved his car towards my lane and slammed the brakes. He and two others from their car got out and attacked us without any provocation. The student then took out a sword and attacked me … I lost a finger when I tried to defend myself,” he told the prosecutors.
Also, a 27-year-old employee [who was also attacked] testified to prosecutors that when the passengers of the other car tried to chase them [Pakistani trio], they ran away. “We ran away and hid for nearly two minutes until the assailants left. When we returned to our car, we found the chopped fingers on the ground. We called the police and we were rushed to the hospital,” he told the prosecutors.
A policeman told the prosecutors: “When I asked the student about what had happened, he claimed that the trio attacked him first and tried to assault him with a knife … he claimed that he took the knife away from them and defended himself. He gave a contradicting statement.”
Presiding judge Urfan Omar will hand out a ruling in absentia against the student on March 13.
