Labourer stabbed cousin over unpaid Dh11,500 debt, Dubai court hears

DUBAI // A labourer stabbed his cousin in the face over an unpaid debt of Dh11,500, a court heard today.

MS, 22, from Bangladesh, grew furious after demanding his cousin repay the debt and stabbed him in the face, chest and in the left hand. He then ran off, leaving his cousin for dead.

Prosecutors told the Criminal Court that on December 9 last year the labourer called his cousin SJ, 26, and asked him to meet outside the Gold Souq in Naif.

The labourer had lent his cousin Dh11,500 while he searched for a job, and when the pair met the labourer asked how the job search was going. When the cousin said he had not found a job, the labourer demanded he repay the money.

"I informed him that urgent circumstances prevented me from getting him a work visa or finding him a job, but he got furious on that day," recalled the cousin.

The labourer then produced a knife and stabbed his cousin three times. The cousin collapsed and the labourer ran off. Passersby called the emergency services.

Emirati corporal AJ, 30, said the labourer was arrested later that day and confessed to the stabbing.

A medical report found that due to the attack the cousin had lost the ability to move two fingers and the wrist of his left hand.

In court the labourer denied a charge of attempted murder.

The court adjourned the case to June 10 to appoint a lawyer to defend the labourer.

salamir@thenational.ae

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