London: A man has been charged with the attempted murder of a Keralite waitress at an East Ham Indian restaurant.
The victim, Sona Biju (22), who witnesses identified as a part-time waitress working in Hyderabad Wala, was stabbed multiple times by an attacker in Barking Road, Newham on Friday. Sona Biju (22) had arrived in London in February to do a Master’s at the University of East London.
Sriram Ambarla, 23, belonging to Andhra Pradesh, was charged with attempted murder on Sunday. He was a student at the University of Manchester. Sriram, who appeared before Thames Magistrates’ Court here on Monday, was remanded in custody for the next court appearance on April 25.
The woman was taken to the hospital where she remains in a serious, but stable, condition.
According to students, both the accused and the victim knew each other from their Hyderabad days. Both had studied at the Vardhaman College of Engineering at Sircilla. The girl’s father is a Malayali and her family lives near Hyderabad.
Soni was doing the job after completing her Master’s, making use of the stay back facility of two years. When she distanced herself from him, Sriram left his job and began a search for her.
Sayuran Siva, who works nearby, said: “As the girl came out to give the food the attacker grabbed her hand and started stabbing.
“Normally we buy our food from there, she is a very nice girl. She is innocent.”
The incident happened at 2.20 pm on March 25.
Terrifying CCTV footage appears to show the moment that the man in the restaurant suddenly attacks the woman with a knife. The terrifying clip was captured by the restaurant’s security cameras installed on two walls on March 25.
In the footage, a number of customers are sitting at tables eating at the Indian restaurant Hyderabad Wala on Barking Road, East Ham, Newham. The girl walks up to a table where a lone man is sitting where he appears to give her something.
The girl then walks out of the shot and goes into the kitchen area of the restaurant before appearing again carrying what looks like a food carton. As she approaches the lone man he appears to grab her wrist and then pulls her closer to him.
The girl looks nervously back at the kitchen area and it appears that she may be called out. At that point, the man leaps to his feet, grabs her, and wraps his arms around her. He then appears to hold a knife to her throat and then slices at her neck and body before she falls to the ground.
Another customer from a different table approaches the knifeman but he is forced to retreat due to being threatened himself. In a second video taken from another angle, two men rush in from the kitchen area and confront the man with the knife.
The knifeman also threatens the two men and appears to make stabbing and slicing movements several times towards the waitress rolling around on the floor. He eventually stops and runs towards the exit before grabbing something from the table he was previously sitting at.