Two cafeteria employees have been accused of killing a Saudi customer in the restaurant where they work.

The Indian defendants were arrested following a row in which the victim was knocked to the floor, suffering a fatal blow to the head, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

However, they claim they were acting in self-defence after the Saudi attacked them with a shoe when they refused to set him up with women.

The incident happened at a restaurant on Exhibition Avenue on November 29 when the victim and his Saudi friend were in Bahrain on holiday.

One of the restaurant workers, 30, yesterday pleaded guilty to causing the death of the Saudi - but claimed he was simply trying to protect himself.

"Two Saudi men, who were drunk, came to the cafeteria where I work and started to cause problems," the defendant told judges as he appeared in the High Criminal Court yesterday.

"They started to throw around tables and chairs and left.

"They then came back again and asked my colleagues and I if we could hook them up with Filipino girls.

"He (the victim) said that he will give me SR500 ($133.3) if I got a 'meal' for his friend.

"He then started shouting, pushed me, took off a shoe and hit me with it.

"I pushed him back, but he fell and banged his head on the ground."

Police were called to the scene but the victim, aged in his 30s, died two days later in hospital.

The second defendant, 24, told judges yesterday his colleague did push the victim, but denied any involvement.

Meanwhile, the dead man's Saudi friend, 35, who was with him at the time told prosecutors that the two restaurant employees attacked them after the deceased accidentally tipped over a table.

"We went to a cafeteria on Exhibition Avenue before 8am to eat," he said in his statement.

"My friend accidentally tripped over a table and they started to shout at us.

"One of them then pushed me to the ground and I started to walk away because I did not want any trouble.

"I then heard my friend scream and when I looked back I saw him fall to the ground, as one of the cafeteria employees had just struck him with an object.

"I couldn't make out the employee's face from a distance, but my friend was taken to a hospital by an ambulance after a passer-by alerted authorities.

"I stayed with him until the next day when I had to travel to Saudi Arabia for my job.

"After a couple of days I returned to Bahrain, but found out my friend had died in hospital."

A medical examiner's report stated the victim died from severe bleeding and suffered a fractured skull, which was caused by an impact from a solid object.

"The victim could have died after he was hit on the head with a solid object, or after banging his head on the ground," said the report.

"However, the victim most probably died after falling to the ground because of the heavy blow to his head and no (other) visible injuries to his skull."

The trial was adjourned until April 6 for review. - TradeArabia News Service