Jihad Chaaban, the Marwako restaurant supervisor standing trial for allegedly dipping the face of a female worker into pepper, has accused the victim of reporting the matter to the police with the aim of making money.
During his evidence-in-chief (EIC) Thursday at the Abeka District Court, Chaaban was emphatic that Evelyn Boakye, the victim, wanted to use the trial to make money from him.
He alleged that another worker of the restaurant known as Abigail told him that Evelyn approached her and tried to convince her to be a witness in the case with a promise that she would get money.
Abigail, Chaaban claimed, declined Evelyn’s offer with an explanation that she (Evelyn) was not being fair to the supervisor.
The supervisor has pleaded not guilty to three counts of causing harm, assault and offensive conduct and is on bail in the sum of GH¢ 20,000 with two sureties.
Evidence in Arabic
At the court sitting yesterday, Chaaban brought his EIC, which formed part of his defence, to a close.
He gave his EIC in Arabic after the court granted a request from his lawyers that he would make a better case if he spoke in Arabic. His EIC was translated into English by a court-assigned interpreter.
Before he brought his evidence to a close, Chaaban re-enacted how the incident occurred from his point of view.
According to him, he discovered that Evelyn had blended more onions than what the blender could take, resulting in a lot of the onions getting stuck in the blender.
He claimed to have held the cheek of Evelyn in order to show her the onions that were stuck in the blender with the intention to explain to her how best to use the blender.
“I did not dip her face in pepper as has been alleged,’’ he said.
Hearing of the case continues on May 24, 2017 when the prosecution will cross-examine Chaaban
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