A 22-year-old electrician who was sentenced to five years in prison for slashing his colleague’s throat after an argument about the latter’s smelly feet, will serve a double sentence.
Last June, the Dubai Criminal Court convicted the Pakistani defendant of murdering his compatriot on July 26 last year during their midday break at their work site in Al Rashidiyah.
Records show that the two headed to a rest area and after both men laid down to sleep, the defendant asked his colleague, Mohammed Zeeb Bahader, to move his feet away from him as they "smelled very bad".
The two engaged in a heated argument which escalated into a fist fight when the deceased refused to move away his feet then insulted the defendant's family.
The Syrian site supervisor said he went to the room when he learnt of the fight and found that the defendant had left moments before, but the fatal attack had yet to take place.
“I had them all leave the room and take a rest outside, then I was walking towards my car when a worker ran towards me and said the defendant attacked the deceased with a blade,” said the supervisor.
He rushed back and handed the victim a scarf to wrap around his neck, which was bleeding heavily, before he called an ambulance.
By the time paramedics arrived, the man was dead.
"We got there and saw the victim on the ground and the defendant standing next him," said a police officer.
"He was denying the attack although his clothes were bloodied and the blade was found next to him at the crime scene. Then he confessed and said he got furious when the man insulted his family."
A co-worker said the two men had never fought before.
“When the fight happened, we were all evicted from the room and, as we were walking out, the defendant came from behind and attacked our colleague,” said the Pakistani worker.
The defendant denied a premeditated murder charge and claimed he was defending himself, however his term was doubled by the Dubai Court of Appeal.
He will be deported after serving his sentence.
