Dubai: A worker has been jailed for five years for killing his flatmate with a knife after he joked with him and hurled his clothes from the balcony while drunk.

The Indian worker, his countryman flatmate and others had all met at their labour accommodation where they held a farewell gathering for their departing coworker in March.

Everybody was drinking at the room when the flatmate jokingly grabbed the 37-year-old defendant’s clothes and threw them down to the street from the balcony.

Angered by the joke, the accused indulged in a heated argument with the victim and they both cursed each other before the latter rushed into the kitchen grabbed a cooking pan.

Records said the flatmate struck the 37-year-old with the pan on his head meanwhile the defendant grabbed a knife and stabbed the victim thrice in his abdomen.

Police instantly went to the accommodation in Al Ghusais and apprehended the accused who was restrained by the accommodation’s supervisor.

On Tuesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the defendant for five years after convicting him of murder.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the accused, who pleaded not guilty, will be deported and the murder weapon will be confiscated.

When he appeared before the court, the accused contended that the victim attacked him first and pounded his head with a pan before he acted in self defence and stabbed the deceased.

The accommodation’s supervisor testified that a number of workers alerted him that a fight had happened in one of the rooms.

“I went to the room and unlocked the door … when I walked in, I saw the victim lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Workers who had witnessed the incident told me that they were all drinking alcohol and were holding a farewell party for their coworker who was travelling. I was notified that the victim joked with the defendant and tossed his clothes from the balcony … the accused got angry and scuffled with the deceased. They had a heated argument and he stabbed the victim. I went down to the ground floor and found the defendant there and he was bleeding from his fingers. Police took him into custody and seized the knife that the defendant had thrown in the washroom,” he testified.

A police lieutenant who questioned the defendant testified: “The accused said the victim attacked him first and hit him with a pan on his head before he stabbed him in his abdomen.”

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.