DUBAI // A lorry driver who stabbed a compatriot in the chest said he acted in self-defence and was not trying to kill the man, a court has been told.
“I didn’t try to kill him,” the Indian driver, 43, told Dubai Criminal Court on Sunday. “He tried to kill me so I just defended myself.”
But the victim, also 43, said his attacker was shouting “die, die” as he stabbed him. He told prosecutors that the incident happened about 7.30pm on April 11.
“I was politely blaming him for parking his lorry in my spot in a sandy car park in Ras Al Khor area,” the victim said.
After the discussion, he went to a nearby cafeteria and bought dinner, which he ate inside his lorry.
“Then I went to the toilet and when I returned I saw the suspect coming with both his arms behind his back,” the victim said. He said the man appeared to be drunk and upset.
“Suddenly he punched me in the face. I fell and he stepped on my face then pulled out a knife from behind his back and started stabbing me in the chest and abdomen while screaming ‘die, die’.”
A man near by heard what was going on and called police. An ambulance arrived and the victim was rushed to hospital, where doctors saved his life.
The attacker was arrested on the spot and prosecutors said he confessed during interrogations to attempted murder, although he denied it in court on Sunday.
The next hearing is scheduled for November 13.
salamir@thenational.ae