Man stabs workmate to death at a mall kitchen

dubai — A 27-year-old stabbed his colleague to death after he allegedly heard him talking on the phone to his wife, the Court of First Instance was told.

The Pakistani assistant cook stabbed his countryman in the chest and thigh, killing him instantly, in the kitchen of a mall in Al Mamzar.

The Pakistani man denied a murder charge in court, claiming he acted in self-defence after the victim initiated the attack on him.

“I was on duty at the food court when I got a call from my supervisor telling me about an incident. I saw then workers chasing the accused who exited a kitchen. I managed to catch him with my colleague,” a Nepali security guard, 31, said. “He was scared and said the victim insulted his wife while telling him that a man would kill him back home.”

The police here alerted around 4:15pm on December 22, 2016 on the incident. “We were alerted to a stabbing attack in a restaurant at a mall in Al Mamzar. A body was lying down in the kitchen with stab wounds in the chest. The suspect was restrained by some security guards,” a police lieutenant said.

“I found the suspect in a state of shock and crying. He confessed then he stabbed the victim more than once as he was very angry because the victim was talking to his wife back home and meddling in own affairs. He said he had warned him to stay away from his family,” the officer added.

A Pakistani cook, 48, who was in the kitchen at the time of the stabbing said: “The accused was making tea while the victim was cooking and making a video call with his mobile phone. When the victim said someone’s name for three times the accused lost his mind, took a knife and grabbed his neck while stabbing him about three times in the chest. He dropped him and bit my hand as I tried to stop him from leaving.”

Surveillance camera footage, showing the defendant running from the kitchen through back door at 16:16 and being chased by other workers and security guards to the ground floor, was used in the case.

The victim’s mobile phone found near his body was seized.

mary@khaleejtimes.com