Khaleej Times

Nurse accused of pushing friend to death after party

- Marie Nammour mary@khaleejtim­es.com

The victim was lying on his back with apparent bruises on his knees. The body was then shifted to the forensic medicine department.” Forensic expert

Some Pakistani men stepped in to stop the fight and I left the scene. I came back about half an hour later to check on my friend and I found him dead.” The defendant

DUBAI — A nurse, who allegedly assaulted a friend and unintentio­nally caused his death after a night of drinking out, was charged at a Dubai court on Monday.

Prosecutor­s accused the 28-year-old Filipino man of being drunk when he pushed the victim following a verbal brawl. This caused him to fall down and his head hit the pavement. The victim died shortly later because of severe brain haemorrhag­e. The nurse denied the charge at the Court of First Instance.

The incident that took place on August 10 was reported at the Bur Dubai police station.

The defendant said during the public prosecutio­n investigat­ion that the victim was his friend. “We had been drinking alcohol at a house in Al Jafflia. It was already half past midnight when we left the house. We then had a fight as I wanted to go home and he did not.”

Their brawl soon turned physical. “Some Pakistani men stepped in to stop the fight and I left the scene. I came back about half an hour later to check on my friend and I found him dead,” the nurse told the investigat­ors.

When the police arrived at the crime scene, the nurse claimed the Pakistani men chased them and assaulted his friend to death.

A forensic expert said he was called in to the crime scene in a parking lot in Al Satwa. “The victim was lying on his back with apparent bruises on his knees. The body was then shifted to the forensic medicine department.”

The expert spotted bruises on the victim’s neck, back of the head, heels, knees and upper chest. “He suffered severe internal brain bleeding. The victim was then under the influence of alcohol.”

A police lieutenant said the defendant told them two different stories on the night of the incident. “At first, he claimed his friend was assaulted by Pakistani men. He later revealed they had been consuming liquor and had performed sex acts on two men. They later had a fight as one of them wanted to meet more men while the other wanted to go home.”

A Pakistani worker, 25, made the call to the police. “I saw a person on the ground in a parking lot. I noticed he was not moving. A Filipino man then came and was checking him for pulse, but I told him to wait for the police.”

The nurse was also referred to the Court of Misdemeano­urs on charges of consuming alcohol without a licence, making a false police report, and having sex with a male.

The trial continues on November 29.

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