She started it.
The delusional monster accused of savagely beating a nurse in a Hell’s Kitchen bar is outrageously claiming self-defense, telling cops his victim initiated the horrific bathroom brawl that left her hospitalized with numerous broken bones.
Mbarek Lafrem, 30, a construction worker from a Philadelphia suburb, appeared silent and expressionless in a rumpled Yankees jacket as he was arraigned yesterday in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of attempted murder, assault and attempted rape.
His victim, whose name is being withheld by The Post, required 50 stitches to close a laceration across her forehead and suffered a broken eye socket, a broken nose, skull fractures and a busted jaw, according to court papers.
Lafrem, a Moroccan national, gave police a twisted explanation for the 2 a.m. assault inside the Eighth Avenue bar Social, claiming she provoked the fight by berating him when he barged into the women’s restroom shortly after she’d rebuffed him on the dance floor.
“I was at the bar with the girl. I went into the bathroom, and she started yelling at me,” Lafrem said, according to the court papers.
“She was coming toward me, so I grabbed her by the arm. She was trying to push me, so I punched her in the face twice and pushed her back into the stall. She fell into the stall and hit her head.”
The victim was found in the bathroom with one pant leg completely off and the other around her ankle, the court papers said. Investigators believe he attempted to sexually assault her.
“This case is a vicious and brutal attack,” prosecutor Dan Brody told Judge Cynthia Kern.
The victim is recovering at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she works as a pediatric nurse.
Lafrem is being held without bail.
Meanwhile, the mother of Lafrem’s ex-girlfriend, who declined to give her name, told The Post that she “wasn’t surprised.”
She wouldn’t go into detail but said the relationship between Lafrem and her daughter ended about a year ago.
His entire family is in his native Morocco, but he has been working here for several years, sources said.
Lafrem was staying at the Best Western on 48th Street, near the scene of the attack.
“He stole my merchandise,” said Su Lim, 62, the manager at Green Emporium on Eighth Avenue.
Lim said Lafrem went into his bodega Wednesday at about 9 p.m., about five hours before the attack, and argued with the cashier, who called police.
Lafrem fled the deli, only to return at 11 p.m., buying a beer before swiping energy drinks on his way out, Lim said.
Lafrem’s fellow construction workers turned him in to police after spotting him on surveillance footage released by the NYPD.
Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts.