Emirati loses eyesight after Dubai restaurant staff hit him with ashtray

Dubai - The four defendants, including three Egyptians and an Ethiopian, were believed to have beaten the man all over his body until he fainted down.

Restaurant staff who hit a customer with an ashtray were charged in the Court of First Instance with physical assault resulting in a permanent eye injury.

According to the forensic report, the complainant suffered a permanent loss of vision (35 per cent) in his right eye due to the assault.

The incident allegedly happened on September 12, 2015, in a restaurant in Rigga, Al Muraqqabat.

The four defendants, including three Egyptians and an Ethiopian, were believed to have beaten the man all over his body until he fainted down.

The complainant, a 26-year-old Emirati, said that the incident happened after 2 am.

"I had just been there for 40 minutes for shisha. Then a waiter (a 34-year-old Egyptian) came to me and asked me to pay and leave."

He claimed that the way the waiter talked to him was rude.

When he told the waiter that he would leave after 3 am the latter began to shout.

When the two raised their voices other staff gathered around them.

"He pushed me while the others punched and kicked me all over my body."

He said that he learnt later that the four defendants, two waiters and two security guards, carried him outside the hotel and placed him in the ambulance.

When he woke up the following day at the hospital he came to know that he had a eye injury and underwent an operation.

He was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department where he identified the four accused.

The court adjourned the hearing to April 10.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai