Dubai: An African man in his thirties died after he stabbed himself in the genitals after attempting to attack his baby on Thursday in Al Barsha area, a Dubai Police official said.

Major General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant to the Dubai Police Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs said the man also stabbed his neighbour twice, who was trying to protect the man’s wife and baby when her husband was chasing her outside their house.

The neighbour, an Asian man in his fifties, was stabbed in the chest and the back, and was taken to the hospital for treatment. He sustained minor injuries and was in a stable condition.

Maj Gen Al Masouri said, investigations showed the man had been suffering from a mental illness from the time his wife was still pregnant and he was being treated for the condition.

The family had been in the UAE for a while and a few months back they had a baby. Investigations revealed the man did not have any financial issues.

The wife told police that after the birth of their baby, her husband’s condition worsened and he would get very angry.

She said the family was in the process of leaving the country and were packing their belongings, but were waiting for the baby’s passport to be issued.

Maj Gen Al Mansouri said the man’s wife said her husband’s condition was dire two days ago and they had visited the doctor who had prescribed some medications for her husband.

“On Thursday morning, she said she found him more agitated and angry and he started staring at their baby and attempted to strangle him,” he said.

The wife snatched the baby out of harm’s way and then her husband tried to snatch him from her. When he couldn’t do that, he took a knife and inflicted a cut on the baby’s foot.

The woman ran out of the house with her baby and sought the help of her neighbour, who came out of his house and tried to stop the husband. The African stabbed the man in the chest and when he ran out to the street, he followed him and stabbed him again, this time in the back.

When a taxi driver who witnessed the incident began screaming for help, the African stabbed himself and died on the spot.

When police received the call and arrived on the scene, they found the man lying dead on the street and the neighbour injured. The neighbour and baby were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Both the neighbour and the baby sustained minor injuries and are in a stable condition. The man’s body was taken to Dubai Police’s Forensics department.

Legal procedures are underway and police are working with the consulate of the woman’s country’s to send her and her child back home.

The man’s body will be repatriated back once all procedures are completed.