Man stabbed in row over TV remote control

DUBAI // A labourer stabbed his room mate in a drunken fight over the television's remote control, a court heard today.

Prosecutors told the Dubai Criminal Court that SF, a 56-year-old from India, accused his compatriot KS, 52, of breaking the device before grabbing a knife from under his bed and stabbing him in the abdomen and behind the ear.

The fight occurred on August 31 at their labour camp in Jebel Ali.

A third man who witnessed the fight, 29-year-old KK, said that both men were drunk when the fight broke out and that each blamed the other for the damage done to the remote control.

"The victim asked SF to buy a new TV remote control since he ruined the one they had," said the witness. He said that the two men often fought and that the knife had been bought from a supermarket after one such clash.

After stabbing his roommate the labourer fled the room but was arrested shortly after when police arrived.

He was charged with attempted murder, but did not appear in court today to enter a plea.

The next hearing will be in May.

salamir@thenational.ae