Midnight Deira brawl involving 200 ended in death of one

A 34-year-old Azerbaijani visitor, ZM, allegedly killed a Tajik national in a brawl by stabbing him with a knife, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

Other five visiting compatriots identified as MH, 23, IH, 27, HM, 29, RH, 25, and FHD, 29 and an Ukrainian driver, KY, 25, are accused of assaulting the victim’s friend.

MB, 39, Azerbaijani housewife testified that her parents back home had called her and asked her to help ZM who was facing a problem in the UAE.

“On the same day of the call, I received a call at midnight from ZM who asked me to meet him in front of Sheraton Deira. He told me he had a brawl with a Tajik and it seemed that the later had died ZM expressing willingness to hand himself over to the police.

“I accompanied him to Naif police station where he surrendered. I was translating to the officer on duty and ZM who told that a brawl broke between him and the victim. He admitted bringing the knife from the kitchen of his apartment during the fighting. He got scared when he saw that the knife’s handle had broken. He threw the knife and fled,” she testified.

ABK, 33, Rwandan visitor, testified that while he was driving near Bani Yas Square he saw a big crowd at the traffic light. “Traffic was moving very slowly so I could see a man lying on the street in front of a restaurant. Suddenly a man came running and jumped on my car breaking the front glass with his leg and then he disappeared.  I stopped and waited for the police to arrive. There were blood stains on my car,” he testified.

An Egyptian waiter MMM, 31, saw two groups of people coming from opposing directions and, facing each other, they all walked to a sandy area behind Deira Tower.

“I saw them fighting and one of them was using a wooden ladder to hit others. I got scared and decided to leave the scene. I saw one of the Tajik men on the ground with blood on him. His friends carried him to the main road and put him in front of McDonald’s. I walked towards the victim who was bleeding at his chest. I helped him rest his head on my chest until police and ambulance arrived,” he testified.

Another eye witness MAA, 45, Afghan salesman, testified that while he was in a carpet shop in Deira Tower, about 200 Tajiks and Azerbaijanis gathered in the sandy area behind the tower and started fighting with whatever thingsa they could find in the garbage bins.

“One of them was wearing a boxing glove and in his hand there was a knife. He stabbed the victim in his chest. The victim stepped back and fell on his knees coughing. The victim’s friends carried him to the man road. Then police arrived,” he testified.

Policeman Dahan Mohammed testified that he rushed with other colleagues to the scene of the crime. “After rushing the victim to the hospital, police found a broken knife handle stained with blood. There was also a car with its front glass broken.  The driver said that a man rushed towards the car while he was driving and jumped on the hood and kicked the glass with his foot,” he testified.

“The victim could say the name of the man who had stabbed him before dying,” testified Corporal Ali Humaid.

Forensic reported that the victim died because of the deep stab in his chest that caused internal and external bleeding.

Eye witnesses recognised ZM as the one who stabbed the victim. They also recognised the other six who were involved in the brawl.

The accused denied the killing and the other six denied assaulting the victim.

The Court adjourned the case until April 28.
 

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