From Good Deed to False Accusation: Bahraini Man Acquitted in Mall Theft Drama

TDT | Manama
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

In a case reminiscent of an action film, a Bahraini man found himself embroiled in a theft accusation after selflessly assisting a woman who claimed her son had drowned. However, the Lower Criminal Court ultimately acquitted him of all charges.

The incident unfolded in a well-known shopping mall, as detailed by the defendant's lawyer, Ibtisam Al Sabbagh. Two women in niqab entered the mall and headed to the electronics section, where one of them asked a store employee to show her a mobile phone.

While the employee was distracted, her accomplice stealthily stole five iPhones and a pair of AirPods. They then moved to the grocery section, where the thief broke the boxes containing the stolen phones and concealed them in her clothing before quickly exiting through an emergency exit.

At the same time, the accused was arriving at the mall in his car to meet his wife, with whom he was having a dispute. He was aware that she took their daughter to the mall’s play area every Friday. In an effort to reconcile, he intended to surprise them. However, he was startled when the masked woman suddenly emerged from the emergency exit, waved at him, and entered his vehicle without his permission.

Claiming her son had drowned, she asked for a ride, and he, wishing to do a good deed, obliged. "I drove her for a short distance, and she requested to be dropped off near a restaurant while she spoke on the phone with someone else," the man told judges at the Lower Criminal Court, adding: "I then returned to the mall, only to find my wife and daughter were no longer there," leading him to leave the premises. To his shock, he later learned he was implicated in the theft of the stolen phones, accused of being an accomplice to the two women.

The court, in its ruling of acquittal, stated that the evidence presented against the defendant was circumstantial. "Police investigations did not yield any information suggesting the accused had any knowledge of the criminal activity occurring in the mall," the court ruling explained.

As a result, he was cleared of all charges, highlighting the importance of thorough investigation in such cases.