A food delivery courier has reported to police that he was assaulted by an employee of a Żabbar pizzeria after an argument about late food escalated into an altercation. 

Umair Zia, who is from Pakistan and lives in Qrendi, told Times of Malta that the incident happened at around 8 pm on Sunday when he was pushed and punched in the face by the employee after he attempted to ask about the status of an order he was supposed to deliver. 

“I had been waiting to pick up an order for about 30 minutes and I asked if it was ready, as the client had started to call asking what was taking so long,” Zia said. 

“The guy came out and looked like he was about to eat me. He started to verbally abuse me and then he pushed me and I fell over.”

Zia said that after he was pushed, he phoned the police to report the incident, but no help was forthcoming.

“After that, he came out with the food and told me to get out,” he continued. 

“He looked very angry and continued to shout at me, after which he punched me in the face and hit my nose.” 

Photo: Umair Zia

Zia said that he suffered a nose bleed and began to feel dizzy, so he called a friend who arrived on the scene to assist him. After calling the police again, he was directed to go to a health centre to certify his injuries and then go to the police station to  file a report. 

In documents seen by Times of Malta, Zia was certified by a doctor as having suffered slight injuries, including small blood clots in the nose and tenderness along the nasal ridge. 

A spokesperson for the police confirmed that a report had been filed about the incident on Sunday evening and that an investigation is ongoing. 

A man who is understood to be the owner of the pizzeria denied the version of events but declined to comment further when contacted. 

Zia says that while this was the first time he was assaulted while on the job, facing aggression was a common-place occurrence among food couriers. 

“He behaved like we aren’t even human beings, like he is our dictator and we are his slaves,” Zia said. 

“This is not right, every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We come from another country with the intention of serving people with a smile, but some Maltese people still think it’s okay to treat us like dogs.”