Three men were remanded in custody after a “reconciliatory” dance at a party failed to achieve the desired end, resulting instead in an attack wherein a victim was bitten and struck with a whisky bottle. 

Ajay Babu, 24, Rejith Ramesan, 28, both employed as food packers and George Shibin, 24, a silver craftsman, all India-born, were escorted to court on Tuesday afternoon to face charges over the incident that broke out inside a Pietà apartment on Saturday night. 

It all started over “a truly trivial argument”, explained prosecuting Inspector Eman Hayman.

Two parties were taking place inside the same flat when an argument broke out wherein one group of partygoers claimed that the other party was disrupting their own celebration.

Someone suggested a “reconciliatory” dance but that plan failed miserably and the situation soon escalated, triggering a violent episode during which the victim, a fellow national, was badly beaten.

The man suffered leg fractures, “deep bite injuries”, and was also hit with a whisky bottle as the accused “vented their anger” on the victim, explained the prosecutor.

All three were charged with causing the victim grievous bodily harm, attempting to use force to insult, annoy or hurt him as well as uttering insults and threats. 

After consulting their legal aid lawyer and assisted by two interpreters, all three pleaded not guilty.

One of the accused insisted that he had acted in self-defence. 

Police identified the three men as the suspected aggressors after speaking to the victim and a third party about the incident.

Asked by defence lawyer Yanika Bugeja whether the victim was drunk at the time of the incident, Hayman replied that there “definitely was an element of alcohol”, adding that two of the accused had admitted that they were drunk. 

The defence requested bail, pointing out that if remanded in custody the accused risked losing their jobs.

Besides, the two accused who shared an apartment with the victim could move to the residence of the third co-accused who confirmed that there was enough space to accommodate the other two.

However, after hearing submissions by both parties, the court, presided over by magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, turned down the request in view of the fear of tampering with evidence, especially until the victim testified.