DUBAI // A Nepali worker who stabbed to death a compatriot over a Dh500 debt has been jailed for life.
S J, 28, had been drinking alcohol with Dadandra Rayee on May 17 last year when Rayee said he would not return the money he owed. S J then went to a supermarket, bought a knife and stabbed Rayee in the neck and abdomen.
The attacker had denied premeditated murder at Dubai Criminal Court last December, citing the effect of the alcohol the pair had drank before they argued. But S J was on Tuesday found guilty and given a 25-year life sentence.
The Nepali said he had known his victim for three years when he started working for the same company. Three months before the stabbing, he said he loaned Rayee Dh500 because he had a financial problem.
On the day of the killing, the two men met by coincidence at a car park near their accommodation and started drinking.
The Nepali said he asked about the money and was surprised when Rayee said he would not return it. He said he went to a shop for a knife.
When he returned S J said that he “asked him about my money again and, when he gave me the same answer, I stabbed him in the neck, then in the abdomen”.
S J, who can appeal within 15 days, will be deported after completing his sentence.
salamir@thenational.ae