Dubai: Five cleaners lost their appeal and will be jailed for three years each for assaulting their co-worker to death after fighting with him over a slapping incident.

The five Bangladeshi cleaners, aged between 23 and 30, ganged up against the Indian co-worker in the labour accommodation and repeatedly beat and kicked him then banged his head against the wall in August 2016.

Medical reports confirmed that the victim sustained critical injuries in the upper part of his body and bled profusely before he died in Al Qouz.

The Indian co-worker went to check why one of the five cleaners slapped his colleague, which angered the cleaner and he assaulted the victim along with his colleagues.

In March, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendants of assaulting the victim and causing him fatal injuries.

The five culprits appealed their three-year jail sentence before the Appeal Court and sought to have their jail terms reduced.

Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm dismissed the defendants’ appeals and upheld their primary ruling.

According to the appellate judgement, the five accused will be deported after servin g their jail terms.

The defendants contended that they did not intend to kill the victim.

A 45-year-old Indian cleaner said the assault happened shortly after he had informed the deceased that one of the defendants had slapped him.

“We were at the labour accommodation at 8.30pm, when one of the defendants came to my room and called me. I went to discuss a matter with him when he slapped me for having reported him to our supervisor that he [the defendant] had been lazy at work. When I returned to my room, I told the victim about what had happened. The latter went to ask the defendant why he had slapped me … colleagues and I tried to stop him, but he was angered that I had been slapped and insisted on confronting the man who slapped me. The defendants ganged up against the victim and beat him. He succumbed to the many injuries that he sustained during the random assault,” he said.

Eyewitnesses confirmed the statement of the 45-year-old cleaner.

Police were summoned to the labour accommodation and the defendants were taken into custody.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 28 days.