Jobseeker gets 7 years for manslaughter

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

DUBAI: A rowdy jobseeker who fatally stabbed a roommate for asking him to turn off lights and stop using a phone during bedtime has lost a mercy plea.

The Asian visitor, 37, had arrived in the UAE two days before the incident to look for a job. His friend offered to shelter him inside a room at the workers’ accommodation of a concrete production company in Jebel Ali.

At around 12:30am on Oct.1.2018 he returned drunk, found the room’s occupants asleep, switched lights on and started speaking loudly over the mobile. The Indian victim confronted him. He assaulted the victim fatally.

Prosecutors accused him of manslaughter and alcohol abuse. He denied the manslaughter charge. The Criminal Court sentenced him to seven years in jail plus deportation. The Appeals Court has upheld the penalty.

An Indian foreman testified that he was in his room when he heard the inebriated jobseeker making noise inside an adjacent room. The victim and others woke up telling him to switch off light and stop using the mobile.

“He paid no heed and continued using his mobile. The victim confronted him and they started exchanging blows. I entered the room and advised the defendant to call me in case of any brawl because I was the foreman.

“I had just walked out when he renewed the fracas with the occupants. The victim shouted at him to get out since he was a visitor and not a fellow employee. The defendant packed and walked out with his belongings.

“He walked through the floor’s corridor while vowing to return and beat up all the room’s occupants. Upon hearing this the victim pursued him and battered him. The defendant opened his bag and pulled out a knife.

“He started brandishing it while threatening to stab all of us,” explained the foreman adding that he ended up knifing the victim who was facing him.  He continued brandishing it, picked his bag and ran down the building.

An Egyptian watchman intercepted him and demanded his ID. He replied that he was a visitor. The watchman asked him to show his passport. He entered his hand in his bag and pulled out a knife ordering him to stay away.

Labourers chased him down the street. Policemen helped apprehend him. Internal surveillance footage showed him holding a knife.