Chef killed drunken diner over curry
A chef killed a drunken diner who was aggressive and complaining at an Indian restaurant in Ballarat, a court has been told.
The Nepalese chef, Hari Prasad Dhakal, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the diner, Abdullah Siddiqi who was found with stab wounds inside the Ballarat Curry House restaurant on October 25, 2016.
Dhakal has been committed to stand trial at the Supreme Court.
The committal hearing at Ballarat Magistrates Court was told that Mr Siddiqi came to the restaurant with a bottle of Jim Beam.
During the night, he became distressed and abusive to Mr Dhakal.
Mr Siddiqi's widow, who did not want her name published, told the court her husband was not an aggressive person.
She said he did not drink alcohol and was surprised to learn he had been drinking on the night he died.
"I'm not aware of any problem. This is a complete shock. I don't know what happened and I wasn't there," she told the court.
"He was fine when he left me at the hospital. I am not sure what happened."
She could not explain why her husband had been aggressive that night.
Waitress Sonia Kumari told the court Mr Siddiqi was drunk, unhappy with the food and had become abusive towards Mr Dhakal.
Speaking through a Hindi interpreter, she said: "All these details I can't remember … I was saying 'stop it, stop it. They were both pushing each other."
She said Mr Dhakal had worked as a chef at the restaurant for three to four months before the alleged incident.
She described him as a nice person.
When defence barrister Theo Alexander said Mr Dhakal had said to Mr Siddiqi, "If you don't like the food don't worry about paying, just leave the restaurant", she said: "He also said, 'you can't stay here anymore',"
Defence barrister Theo Alexander said the defence would be self-defence.
Mr Dhakal was remanded in custody.
by Leon Gettler, November 3rd 2017
