Labourer stabbed fellow worker to death over missing Dh6,000, hears court

A labourer stabbed a fellow worker in the heart, liver, lung and spleen before locking him in his room and leaving him to bleed to death, a Dubai court has heard.

DUBAI // A labourer stabbed a fellow worker in the heart, liver, lung and spleen before locking him in his room and leaving him to bleed to death in a row over Dh6,000, a court heard today.

Prosecutors told the Criminal Court that ME, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi labourer, suspected KH had stolen the money because only he knew about the wooden box in which it was kept.

KH had reported himself sick and was convalescing in his bed at a labour camp in Al Quoz Industrial Area on June 20 when the labourer burst into his room and stabbed him repeatedly. The labourer then left the room and locked the door. It took a day before other workers broke into the room and discovered the body in a pool of blood. By then the labourer had fled first to Sharjah and then to Al Ain where five friends helped him cross the border to Oman.

An Emirati policeman said that Omani authorities co-operated in the arrest of the labourer and he was returned to the UAE. He said that when interrogated the labourer claimed he had not meant to kill the man.

The labourer was charged with premeditated murder. RD, 29; AS, 32; BA, 26; AA, 28 - all Bangladeshi - and ES, a 24-year-old Omani mechanic were charged with aiding and abetting the labourer by helping him to flee to Oman.

None of the men entered a plea.

The next hearing was scheduled for October 21 to appoint a lawyer for the men.