A ‘VERY drunk’ Sri Lankan cleaner is on trial for allegedly hitting a fellow national on the forehead with the blunt edge of a butcher’s knife, causing a ‘permanent deformity’.
The 32-year-old expat appeared at the High Criminal Court yesterday, facing charges of unintentionally leaving his 24-year-old countryman with a disability.
According to a medical report, the Sri Lankan victim’s forehead became ‘misshapen’, and evaluated the disability caused by the assault at ‘five per cent’.
It added that the injured area has healed, but the site of the injury has now become permanently ‘locally deformed’.
The defendant reportedly admitted to charges, both in Public Prosecution interviews and before a judge in a hearing to determine the renewal of his pre-trial detention.
“He admitted to using a knife to harm the victim, but that he does not recall how, why, or the circumstances of the altercation as he was intoxicated,” read a court document.
The cleaner, who lives in Qadam, repeatedly stated that he could not remember the May incident.
Meanwhile, the now-disfigured victim, who works at a Japanese restaurant, told prosecutors that his compatriot meant to hurt him, and described him as ‘very drunk’.
“On the day of the incident, I entered into a discussion with the defendant about work, and it led him to hit me once above my right eye with a blunt object he pulled out of his trousers,” the 24-year-old said.
Another Sri Lankan man, who works at a well-known fast food chain, corroborated the victim’s testimony.
Judges adjourned the hearing to August 10 for defence responses.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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