Dubai: A visitor has been cleared of hitting his roommate in the face with the handle of a screwdriver and stealing cash hidden under his pillow.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the 18-year-old Algerian visitor of assaulting his roommate and stealing Dh1,500 from him in April.
The visitor was arrested at Dubai International Airport a few minutes before he boarded a flight back home.
Airport policemen stopped him shortly after his Egyptian roommate reported to police that he was beaten and robbed while he was sleeping.
The Egyptian said someone hit his face with the handle of a screwdriver, took the cash kept under the pillow and fled.
The Egyptian accused his roommate of assaulting and robbing him.
On Tuesday, presiding judge Mohammad Jamal dismissed all the charges against the Algerian.
The victim had alleged to prosecutors that the suspect had been sharing the room with him and used to sleep on the upper bed.
“We were six bachelors sharing the same room … around 5am, the suspect woke me up and asked me to give him Dh20. As I was too sleepy to notice what had been happening, he hit me with something on my forehead. Once I opened my eyes, I saw him running out of the room. He took Dh1,500 that I had kept under my pillow... Three weeks before the assault, the suspect and I had a heated argument over him making noise while others were sleeping” the victim told prosecutors.
