5 Emiratis beat compatriot with knives, then throw acid on him

Dubai - The Five Emiratis of ages ranging between 20 and 35, including two brothers, also threw acid on the victim and his three friends, all Emiratis, in the confrontation that took place after midnight on March 16 last year.

Five men, who beat to death a compatriot using knives, swords and sticks in what is believed to be a planned horrendous attack over old grudges between the victim and one of them, were each sentenced to life in prison on Sunday.
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The Five Emiratis of ages ranging between 20 and 35, including two brothers, also threw acid on the victim and his three friends, all Emiratis, in the confrontation that took place after midnight on March 16 last year.
It is believed the main accused was after someone else and had all the sharp weapons in place for the planned attack. He was then high on drugs and mistook the victim for another and attacked him following an altercation.
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They all earlier denied in the Court of First Instance charges of premeditated murder and planning and executing a gangsters'-style attack with the use of sharp weapons and other harmful material. The attack happened in the street outside the villa of the main accused in Al Warqa.
It is understood from the case documents that the victim's friend was the one who brought him there that night. The victim told the main accused that he was mistaken and that he was not the person he was looking for.
An Emirati, who lives in the same neighborhood as the victim, said :
"The accused approached the victim's car and he wanted to have a fight with him. We all stepped off the car.
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"We managed to keep them away from each other. His friends also pulled him towards his house.
"However, the defendants came shortly later and the main one seemed as if he was intoxicated with liquor or drugs.
"He was hallucinating a lot. He then brandished a medium -size knife and threatened the victim to leave the place".
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His brother suddenly broke an acid bottle on the witness' head and acid was thrown all around. "I ran with my friends. I could not pull the victim away with us. But I turned and saw him being under heavy attack with swords and sticks".
The witness added that he suffered burns in several parts of his body and he was undergoing plastic surgeries at hospital.
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The victim's compatriot friend, a military man, claimed that even as he was carrying the badly injured victim to his car to take him to hospital the main accused punched the victim in the head.
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A police captain said the police patrol cars chased three of the accused all the way to the Industrial area in Sharjah and caught them. Another defendant was apprehended in his home in Hor-Al-Anz, and one in a hospital in Al Ain following an attempted suicide.
mary@khaleejtimes.com