Flatmates in court after fighting over untidy Dubai apartment

DUBAI // A Moroccan woman was left with only partial sight in her right eye after she was assaulted by her flatmate in an argument over tidying up their apartment.

On September 15 last year, the 36-year-old victim asked the Tunisian defendant, 34, to tidy her things up instead of leaving them lying around their flat in Al Muraqqabat.

“She told me she can keep her stuff wherever she wanted then we argued,” said the victim, adding the defendant then started beating her up.

“I was woken by the screams of both women,” said a 34-year-old Tunisian woman who also lived in the apartment. “I found them beating each other up, punching and pulling each other’s hair, then I managed to break up the fight and went back to sleep.”

Five minutes later she heard the screams again and found the victim bleeding from her right eye.

Police and an ambulance were called and the injured woman was taken to hospital. She was treated for a serious injury to her right eye, which resulted in partial loss of sight.

The defendant did not appear at Dubai Criminal Court to face a charge of physical assault and causing a permanent disability.

A verdict will be issued on June 19.