The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

An inebriated man who punched a heart patient during a brawl must see out his punishment over manslaughter, a court upheld on Sunday.

The 35-year-old unemployed Asian defendant assaulted the compatriot labourer inside a contracting company’s workers’ accommodation in Al Muhaisna at around 10pm on Jan.18, prosecutors explained.

Paramedics rushed the victim to hospital. He unfortunately succumbed to heart complications. In court, prosecutors charged the defendant with manslaughter and clarified that he had no intention to murder.  They additionally accused him of alcohol abuse and demanded he be handed a tough punishment. “I never caused his death,” he denied the manslaughter charge but confessed to the charge of alcohol abuse.  The Criminal Court jailed him for two years plus deportation over manslaughter and a Dhs2,000 fine over alcohol abuse. He appealed seeking to challenge the ruling. However, the Appeals Court upheld the punishment.

In prosecution records, the victim’s Indian roommate 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 explained. “I ran out to the foreman. After alerting him I returned inside the room and found the victim lying on the floor. The defendant sat beside him amidst a crowd of labourers.” The Pakistani foreman said, “The roommate contacted telling me a worker was in critical condition and had to be rushed to hospital. I found him lying face up and unconscious as paramedics aided him.”

The defendant remained close to the victim. The roommate told police the defendant was the one who struck the victim with a hand blow and he collapsed. Police detained him.

A Comorian policeman said, “The accommodation’s foreman showed us the room where the defendant assaulted the victim.” A forensic report confirmed the victim was suffering from aortic valve stenosis.  The report concluded that the fight exacerbated the victim’s health complications as the abnormally narrow aortic valve opening coupled with increased heartbeats culminated in a heart attack.