DUBAI // A worker who said that the devil had seduced him when he stabbed his roommate denied an attempted murder charge at Dubai Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that, early in the morning of February 1, Pakistani A A, 23, stabbed his 29-year-old countryman A A A in the arm and back, in an attempt to kill him.

Records showed the pair shared a room at labour accommodation in Jebel Ali and that they had argued two days before the stabbing.

At 5.30am on the day of the incident, and as the victim was about to leave for work, A A stopped him and asked if he had told anyone about their argument.

“He asked me if I’d told Ali about our argument and I told him I did not know anyone named Ali. He was angry at that moment,” said the victim in records.

He added that, as he turned his back and went to open the door and leave, the defendant took him by surprise and stabbed him in the arm and back.

A A A managed to walk out of the room and a co-worker spotted him bleeding.

“I had him sit on a chair and tried to stop the bleeding after I called for an ambulance. Then he told me that A A stabbed him and insulted him,” testified Palestinian F B, 40.

The accommodation’s Pakistani security guard said the defendant told him he had been seduced by the devil to stab his roommate. The guard kept the defendant in his room until police arrived and arrested him.

Emirati forensics expert S A, 28, testified that the knife wounds were nearly fatal but surgical intervention saved the man’s life.

The next hearing is on June 29.

salamir@thenational.ae