Man assaulted with knife in a tiff over spilled tea in Dubai

An unemployed Afghan man (26) and his compatriot, who owns a restaurant (21), are facing trial in the Dubai Court of First Instance after physically assaulting a worker (23), a Pakistani national, with a kitchen knife and causing a permanent injury to one of the fingers in his left hand.

The court has indicted the restaurant owner for threatening the worker that he would cancel his visa, get him banned from the UAE and deprive him of his salary if he filed a police complaint against him.

The case, which was registered at Al Rashidiya police station on February 1, 2019, dates back to the incident that had occurred the previous day.

The Pakistani worker recounted his ordeal in the court.

He was having tea at the restaurant, which is located at Al Garhoud, on January 31, 2019, when “by mistake, some tea slipped from his mouth and fell on the accused. The latter got upset and spilled the tea on him. He was also insulted”.

Soon, the defendant allegedly hit the victim with a knife that was lying on a table in the kitchen. “I got hurt in my left hand and was taken to a hospital.”

After around 45 days, the victim went back to work, where he saw the defendant. “As he had insulted me, I told him that I would report against him to the police. He then threatened me that he would cancel my residence visa, put a ban on me and deprive me of my salary,” the victim said during the investigation.

The victim had lodged a complaint on February 1, 2019.

He told the investigator that the unemployed accused was trying to randomly hit him with the knife and he lost a finger due to the wound.

The victim said that the owner was upset with him because he went to the restaurant and caused a disturbance in the restaurant.

He told the prosecutor that there were several eyewitnesses to the incident.

The forensic report showed that the victim had sustained a finger injury because of the assault. He is having difficulty moving one of his fingers in the left hand.

The trial has been adjourned till December 29.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai