A waiter at a Lahore restaurant allegedly assaulted a guest before fleeing the place, the restaurant’s management issued an apology in media release on Saturday.
In a video recorded by an eye witness, a government officer, Ahsan Anwer Khokar — who visited Rina’s Kitchenette in the city’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) with his family — was reportedly attacked by an unruly waiter with a tray after he complained about his order being too late in the incident which occurred Friday night, eye witnesses said.
“One of the waiters just slashed a wooden board on a customer’s face right across our table three times and then broke a glass on the other table where another family was sitting. The client’s face was bleeding profusely and everyone was traumatised and is still shaken,” said Shayan Azmat, the eye witness who recorded the whole incident on video.
“The victim only wanted to meet the manager because they kept him waiting for 40 minutes for their order and then said that the particular food was not available,” another eye witness wrote in a post on social media.
People commenting on the post, however, are also saying the waiter reacted after he was verbally abused the customer.
The restaurant’s management, in a post on its Facebook page apologised and claimed that they have submitted a request to the police to register an FIR against the waiter on eatery’s behalf.
“In our industry there is no excuse for something like this. People will say that the waiter was provoked, that he was baited, a few will ask for the other side of the story. The truth is that there is no other side of the story; there is no excuse for violence. The waiter was hot headed and acted in rage and we strongly believe that there is no amount of provocation that justifies his act.” reads the post.
The management further said they had hired the waiter with all due diligence. “The waiter in question was a BBA grad and was currently doing his MBA from a local university in Lahore. He was well mannered, groomed and had worked in some of the top restaurants in Lahore. He was recently let go of from a restaurant along with 30 other people due to downsizing. He went through a rigorous interview process and was on the third day of his trial period at the restaurant.”