DUBAI // A blind man drowned at Jumeirah Open Beach after a compatriot claimed he had the power to exorcise him from demons.

The African told the victim he could cure him of epilepsy by reciting the Quran, police said.

They had met at an African community club two days before the incident, reported Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister paper of The National.

The accused was a pharmacist who had been sacked from his job at a private hospital and was showing signs of psychological instability, according to Dubai Police.

He told the victim that, after a session of recitation, he must wash at the beach. At 9pm he submerged the victim, a young man, repeatedly, until he fainted.

He took the dead man back to shore and called the authorities but it was too late to revive him.

Brig Gen Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, head of CID, urged the public to stay away from people who claimed to have special abilities, noting that diseases should be cured by specialist doctors.

The accused and two other men who accompanied him on the night of the incident last week have been referred to the public prosecution for involvement in manslaughter.

newsdesk@thenational.ae