Vegetable chopping spat: Man stabbed in arm

A clerk who stabbed his roommate with a knife has been jailed for a year, a court ruled on Monday.

The 20-year-old Pakistani clerk was cutting vegetables while preparing a meal when he was angered by his countryman roommate and stabbed him with a knife under his armpit last August.

The clerk and the roommate had a dispute, which led to the stabbing incident when the roommate’s father, and others called the police.

The victim’s father had to fly him back to Pakistan for treatment following botched surgery here in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 20-year-old accused of assaulting the victim and causing him a 20 per cent permanent disability.

According to Monday’s ruling, presiding judge Urfan Omar ordered the accused to pay Dh21,000 in temporary compensation to the victim.

The accused was handed a lenient imprisonment due to his young age [under 21].

The defendant will also be deported following the completion of his punishment, said presiding judge Omar.

The clerk had pleaded not guilty and contended that he mistakenly stabbed the victim when he had tried to defend himself.

“I did not intend to stab him. I have paid for all his medical expenses and the injury happened unintentionally,” the defendant argued in court.

The victim’s father said the incident happened at the residence that his family shared with other housemates [including the accused] in Hor Al Anz.

“The defendant was slicing vegetables while another person was also present in the kitchen. That person asked my son about the whereabouts of the spices … and my son told him. Suddenly, the defendant threw the knife down on the floor and shouted, ‘Nobody helps me … while I cut the vegetables and everybody else is sitting around.’ My son then told him to ask the other person to help him and turned to walk out when the defendant picked up the knife, and called out to my son. When my son turned around, the defendant stabbed him. We all tried to stop the fight. I had to fly my son to Pakistan for treatment since his operation here was not successful,” the father told the prosecutors.

A police corporal said the defendant claimed that he stabbed the victim after the latter threw vegetables at him and ordered him to chop it.

Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.

source: GULF NEWS