The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M. Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A waiter who knifed an elderly workmate for complaining about his delay inside a toilet has convinced a jury to slash 30 months from his three-year jail term.

The Asian defendant, 30, took very long in the shared toilet on their apartment in Al Rifa’a area at around 2pm on Sept.14. The Indian victim, 62, started knocking on its door. He stabbed him eight times.

He had a motive to kill the victim but it fell flat after he was rushed to hospital. Thanks to God’s mercy, he responded to swift medical intervention, prosecutors explained and demanded a tough penalty. He denied the charge and argued, “The victim was the one who came with a knife during the dispute. We started fighting. As a result of the scuffle, he got injured. I did not stab him nor even touch the knife.

“He is the one who knifed himself by mistake during the fight.” The Criminal Court jailed him for three years to be followed by deportation. He sought mercy. The Appeals Court has imprisoned him for six months. In prosecution records, the victim who wanted to use the toilet started knocking on the door for the defendant to hurry up. The defendant yelled an obscene statement involving the victim and his mother.

The victim requested him to stop insulting. He got out and pelted the victim with more obscenities. The victim demanded the reason he was insulting. The defendant continued insulting and shouting at him.

Thereafter, the victim thought the situation had returned to normal. The defendant suddenly stabbed him heinously. He stabbed the left part of his body including the chest, upper arm, thigh and calf.

The victim complained, “He unstoppably knifed me. I can’t even remember how many times.” Their flatmate – an Indian supervisor, 32 – intervened to drag the defendant away. He fled out of the room.

An ambulance rushed the victim to Rashid Hospital where he underwent a lifesaving surgery. The supervisor narrated that a heated argument broke out after the victim knocked on the toilet door.

The defendant who was inside detested this. As soon as he stepped out he insulted the victim and his mother. He also provocatively pulled off his trousers’ belt and brandished it, threatening to whip him.

The supervisor tried to contain the situation and keep the defendant at bay. The defendant pulled out a knife from a drawer and stabbed until the supervisor intervened. The victim staggered out of the room.  The defendant fled before police could arrive. They conducted a manhunt and managed to net him.