A restaurant worker allegedly slashed his colleague’s neck with a cleaver, after the co-worker threatened to tell their manager that he was ‘stupid and lazy’ so he would be fired and sent back home.
After charging at his foe, the Indian expat then stabbed himself in the stomach, thinking that his co-worker was going to die from the knife attack, the High Criminal Court heard.
His attorney claimed that he was ‘forced to attack the man’ after the threats concerning his livelihood, as his family back in India relied on him.
The failed murder-suicide incident, sparked by the workplace feud, landed both Indians in hospital and thanks to the skills of the medics meant they both survived to tell the tale.
Pictures included in the case’s files showed a trail of blood across the kitchen floor and a bloodied knife that the defendant had been using to gut fish before he repurposed it as a weapon.
The alleged attacker, 43, is standing trial on charges of attempted murder and assault, which left his compatriot with a long-term injury.
“The victim had always provoked the defendant, constantly taunting and bullying him. He threatened to complain about him to their manager, to make him lose his job,” read the defence notes to the judges. “He had the legal right to defend himself,” she said, further making claims to the effect of ‘the victim started it’.
“He didn’t know how dangerous the tools he was using were and didn’t mean to seriously harm him. That’s why he struck himself with the knife when he saw him fall to the ground.”
Meanwhile, the defendant testified that he was cutting fish in the kitchen when his co-worker began to ‘talk down’ to him.
He recalled aiming at the left side of his neck and then, when he saw how much blood was coming out, he stabbed his own abdomen.
The GDN earlier reported that the suspect admitted to attempted murder before a prison judge. The incident was recorded on security cameras.
The victim recounted the altercation himself, stating that he was suddenly attacked by the suspect, then ran out of the restaurant to ask his manager for help.
The feuding workers’ manager earlier told the Public Prosecution that he had locked the restaurant’s front door and the two men had stayed behind to clean up.
“After an hour, I heard loud knocking at my door. I opened the door to see the victim clutching the side of his neck, bleeding profusely,” he said. “He told me he had been assaulted by the defendant, then fainted on my doorstep. I called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.”
After receiving treatment, the man’s condition stabilised, but he was left with a long-term injury designated as a ‘four per cent disability’ by a medical expert.
Having slashed at the victim’s neck, the defendant’s attack could have well killed the Indian man, had he not received emergency care, the expert stated after examining the wounded expat.
The doctor told the Public Prosecution that the wound was located near vital areas of the body, and was in close proximity to the brain, describing it as ‘potentially fatal’.
Judges set February 10 as date a verdict will be issued in the case.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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