A cleaner fined Dh20 for smoking in a non-designated area stabbed his roommate to death minutes later, a court has heard.
Witnesses described seeing the victim bleeding heavily from his stomach as he called for help.
The incident took place on March 1 at a worker accommodation on the Dubai Al Ain road.
Within five minutes of being fined by a security guard for smoking in a laundry room, the man, from Nepal, is alleged to have committed the murder.
"On the morning of March 1, I saw him [the accused] smoking and gave him a fine that would be deducted from his salary," an accommodation guard said. "Then he went to his room which he shared with the victim."
Dubai Criminal Court heard how the roommate was stabbed eight times in the chest and abdomen.
“He was in the corridor near the bedroom holding his stomach and bleeding,” the guard said. “He kept saying ‘help, I was stabbed’.”
When police arrived the accused was found wandering around the accommodation with a knife hidden under his shirt.
“He didn’t respond to our questions at first, then [he] confessed to stabbing his roommate but wouldn’t say why,” said a policeman.
The hearing was adjourned until September 15.
