An Indian expat has been accused of the savage killing of a co-worker who he believed had blocked his pay rise.
The finance officer was repeatedly smashed over the head with a hammer and then stabbed 30 times in a frenzied attack at his apartment in the Refaa area of Dubai.
A former colleague has been blamed for the brutal attack, which took place more than a year after he resigned in a row with the money man over pay. At the time he allegedly threatened revenge.
The 35-year-old Indian appeared at Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday, where he faced a charge of murder.
The court heard that he resigned from his job as a driver for a major property developer in May 2010.
A manager from the firm’s human resources department told the court: “I met with him to find out why he had resigned and he said the victim had promised to increase his salary since the day he first joined the company, but it never happened.”
The manager added: “He threatened to pursue the victim, even back to India if he had to, as he had nothing to lose.
“I warned the victim but he shrugged it off. When he was murdered a year later I was so shocked.”
A policeman said in official records that they received a call from a friend of the victim in July, saying that he had been to see him but no one answered the door.
Police went to his home and broke in, discovering the victim in a pool of blood.
Suspect caught on CCTV at murder victim’s flat
Police checked the building’s CCTV and spotted the defendant at the scene.
“He admitted to having a financial dispute with the victim,” the officer said. “He said he was owed Dhs45,000 in back pay and had called him, asking to see him at his apartment. He went there with the hammer in a bag.”
Police said that the defendant admitted in interview to hitting the victim eight times over the head and then stabbing him with the knife over and over again in the head and neck.
The policeman added: “He told me the victim deserved to die because he had treated him so unfairly.”
Another policeman said the defendant appeared to show no remorse for his crime and had even laughed while giving his confession.
However, the defendant denied murder yesterday and the case has been adjourned.
