Cook accused of killing flatmate and injuring another

DUBAI // An Egyptian cook allegedly stabbed one of his flatmates to death and seriously injured another after claiming they had both raped him while he was sleeping.

Prosecutors told the Dubai Criminal Court that at 5.30am on September 16 last year, the 26-year-old defendant killed the Jordanian by stabbing him in the neck and abdomen with a kitchen knife before attacking the other man, an Egyptian, stabbing him in the chest and abdomen at the apartment they shared in Al Barsha.

An Indian man who also lived in the flat told the court he heard screams and when he turned on the lights, he saw one of the men bleeding from the neck.

“He then fell unconscious so I called police right away,” said the witness.

Officers found the victim’s body in the flat while the second man was found in an apartment next door bleeding heavily.

He was taken to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. He told prosecutors that the night before the murder, he saw the defendant on the victim’s bed playing with the man’s phone.

“At dawn, the lights were off and suddenly I heard the deceased talking to the defendant asking him ‘Why? Why?’ Then as I got up to check what was going on, he attacked me with a knife,” said the man, who managed to escape.

Tenants living next door told prosecutors they were shocked when the injured man entered their home.

“We wanted to call for an ambulance but none of us could remember the number and we didn’t talk to the injured person at all,” said one of the men.

The defendant, who was arrested the same day, told prosecutors he stabbed his flatmates because he overheard them saying that they had raped him during his sleep and he never found out, according to court records.

However, he did not mention this in court when he was charged with premeditated murder and attempted murder. He denied both charges.

The next hearing will be on May 11.