Man jailed for causing labourer’s death

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

DUBAI: An inebriated man who engaged in a drunken brawl with a compatriot labourer and punched him was on Thursday convicted of manslaughter. The victim was a heart patient.

The 35-year-old unemployed Asian defendant assaulted the victim inside a contracting company’s workers accommodation in Al Muhaisna at around 10pm on Jan.18. Prosecutors charged him with manslaughter.

They also accused him of alcohol abuse. He denied the manslaughter charge and admitted alcohol abuse. The Dubai Criminal Court jailed him for two years plus deportation over manslaughter and fined him Dhs2, 000 over alcohol.

A forensic department report confirmed the victim was suffering from aortic valve stenosis. The fight exacerbated his health complications as the abnormally narrow aortic valve coupled by increased heartbeats sparked a heart attack.

On the record, the victim’s Indian roommate said he returned home and found the defendant and the victim disputing inside the room. They started pushing each other after which they exchanged blows. “I feared the situation,” he said.

“I ran out to the accommodation’s foreman. After alerting him I returned to the room and found the victim lying on the floor. The defendant sat beside him amidst a crowd of labourers. Paramedics arrived and rushed him to hospital.”

The Pakistani foreman explained, “The roommate contacted telling me that a worker was in critical condition and had to be rushed to hospital. I arrived and found him lying face up and unconscious as paramedics offered him first aid.

“The defendant remained close. Police arrived and the roommate told them it was the defendant who struck the victim with a hand blow and he collapsed. Police detained the defendant,” and took him to Al Qusais Police Station.

A Comorian policeman testified that the operations room alerted him and his colleague about a grave assault incident in the accommodation. “We met the foreman. He took us to a room and told us it was where the defendant assaulted the victim.”