A taxi driver who murdered his cousin over a cleaning dispute in 2019 has had his sentence more than doubled by a Dubai court.
The man from Pakistan was initially sentenced to 10 years, but after a new trial by the Court of Cassation he will now spend life in prison, typically 25 years, followed by deportation.
Judges heard that the defendant had argued about cleaning duties with his cousin in the room that they shared in the Hor Al Anz area.
The argument escalated and the man stabbed his cousin with a knife three times in the chest.
The defendant said he had lost his temper when the incident happened at about 1am on July 11, two years ago.
Flatmates of the men were woken by the victim's screams in their home.“I rushed to their room and found the defendant stabbing [the victim] and I had to pull him away to stop him,” a flatmate told prosecutors.
“When I asked him why, he just said ‘it happened’.
“The attacker then sat outside the room repeating that his brain was not working,” said the flatmate.
Police arrested the defendant who told officers that his cousin had mistreated him.
“He told us that his cousin screamed at him and asked him to clean the room,” said the police captain involved in the case.
Police later recovered the knife from the crime scene.
In October 2019, the man was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Dubai Criminal Court, to be followed by deportation.
Details on what led to the revision of the sentence are not revealed.
“The attacker then sat outside the room repeating that his brain was not working,” said the flatmate.
Police arrested the defendant who told officers that his cousin mistreated him.
“He {the defendant} told us that his cousin screamed at him and ordered that he cleans the room,” said a police captain.
Holding a knife at the time of the argument, the defendant said he lost his temper and used the knife to stab the victim.
Police found the knife next to to the deceased’s body.
The man admitted a premeditated murder charge in October 2019.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison by Dubai Criminal Court to be followed by deportation.
At a new trial ordered by the Cassation Court, the sentence was increased to life - typically 25 years - to be followed by deportation.
