TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A diplomat from Papua New Guinea allegedly assaulted his wife and an employee in an apparent drunken rage at a Taipei City restaurant last month.
At 5 p.m. a 44-year-old man who works as a secretary at the Papua New Guinea representative office in Taiwan took part in a dinner party with his fellow staff members at a restaurant in Taipei's Zhongshan District on Aug. 12. After a long night of heavy drinking, the diplomat at 4 a.m. got into a heated argument with his wife and began to smash her head with several glass beer mugs, reported SET News.
When a male employee surnamed Liao (廖) tried to intervene to protect the woman, the diplomat waved the broken beer mug at him before throwing it at Liao. As the worker tried to shield himself, he suffered a laceration to his left arm that required six stitches.
It was not until other bystanders joined in with Liao that they were finally able to restrain the diplomat on a pool table. Liao had four or five abrasions to his upper chest during the struggle with the assailant.
When police arrived on the scene, they took the diplomat into custody at a nearby station. After the incident, the suspect reportedly refused to apologize to Liao, who has since filed a lawsuit for his injuries suffered.
Liao told SET News that the assailant's wife suffered trauma to the back of her head and temples and appeared to lose consciousness and was unable to speak on the day of the assault. She has since reportedly declined to press charges against her husband.
The suspect has served as a diplomat for Papua New Guinea in Taiwan for over 10 years and in 2018 was arrested for driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.58, reported Next TV. Although he claimed diplomatic immunity, a Taiwan court ordered him to pay a fine of NT$75,000.