Restaurant owner skewered my hand, man claims

Restaurant owner skewered my hand, man claims

SYDNEY - A customer of an Indian restaurant in Sydney, Australia, has accused the owner of attacking him with a skewer after he complained about the service.

The owner of The Red Chilli restaurant in Lakemba, New South Wales has pleaded not guilty to stabbing Muhammad Jameel Hossain with a tandoori chicken skewer on March 31.

Mr Hossain, 47, was allegedly skewered through his hand.

He told Burwood Local Court that the owner, Mita Rahman, 43, had stabbed him as he tried to protect a friend who was about to be attacked, reported Sydney Morning Herald.

An argument broke out after Mr Hossain and his friends complained about the slow service.

In a video re-enactment played to the court, Mr Rahman said three men entered the restaurant kitchen and shouted at him because they had to wait too long for the butter chicken they had ordered.

In the video, Mr Rahman told police he was pushed by Mr Hussein and confronted by two others while he was preparing chicken in the restaurant kitchen.

But Mr Hossain said Mr Rahman had threatened to kill him and his friends after attacking them outside the restaurant.

He claimed that Mr Rahman told the group: "I will kill you one by one."

He said Mr Rahman started walking back to the restaurant and then ran towards Mr Hossain's friend while making a stabbing motion with a metal skewer in his hand.

"I just ran to stop him. I put my left hand in front of (my friend's) stomach. It (the skewer) went out through my hand," Mr Hossain said on Sunday.

Mr Rahman shook his head vigorously during Mr Hossain's testimony.

Mr Rahman's lawyer, Mr Warwick Ward, questioned Mr Hossain on his police statement taken four days after the alleged attack, in which he said he tripped and fell on the skewer.

Mr Ward put it to Mr Hossain that Mr Rahman never left the kitchen and did not chase him and his friends outside the restaurant.


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