KATHMANDU: A Nepali man who stabbed his roommate to death after being fined Dh20 (NPR 624) for smoking has been sentenced to life in prison.
Dubai Criminal Court heard how the man, a cleaner, was caught with a cigarette in the laundry room of his accommodation block in March last year.
After being told the area was off-limits to smokers, he was issued with a fine by his supervisor and told to go back to his room.
But once there, the man, 23, lashed out at a colleague and used a knife to stab him eight times in the stomach.
“I saw him smoking and took him to my office and issued him with a fine,” the accused’s supervisor told the court.
“Then I sent him to his room, which he shared with the victim.”
Minutes later, witnesses described hearing loud screams coming from inside the bedroom.
The victim, whose age and nationality was not disclosed, staggered into a shared corridor and called for help.
“I rushed outside and saw the victim bleeding heavily. He was repeating ‘help, I was stabbed’,” the supervisor said.
Appearing in court in August last year, the Nepali man denied a charge of premeditated murder.
But on Wednesday, he was convicted of the killing and ordered to serve life in prison.
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