Man torches car ‘to avenge rapist’, jailed

A man who burnt the car of another man who allegedly raped him 10 years ago, was yesterday sentenced by the First High Criminal Court to three years imprisonment. The defendant was also sentenced by the same court to an additional one year for resisting arrest and attacking on-duty policemen.

The same verdict was also issued against his mother for the offense. According to court files, police received a complaint from the victim, informing that his car, which was stopped at the doorsteps of his house, was burnt by an unknown individual and parts of the house were damaged by the flames.

Police investigations led to the defendant, who resisted arrest and attempted to stab policemen using a knife during the process. The man was brought under control and his mother was also arrested after she assaulted a policewoman. During the interrogation, the man confessed that he had decided to take revenge with the victim, claiming that the latter had sexually assaulted him around 10 years ago.

He told the interrogators that he filled a container with fuel on the day of the incident, poured on the victim’s car while it was parked near his (the victim) house and torched. The defendant said he waited at the scene until the car was completely destroyed by flames before fleeing the location.

The Public Prosecution had referred the defendant to the criminal court after accusing him of torching the victim’s vehicle and endangering lives and property. He was also charged with assaulting a police officer and injuring him as mentioned in the coroner’s report.

The defendant’s mother was charged with verbally assaulting an on-duty policewoman. She was sentenced to one year of imprisonment as announced yesterday. However, the court mentioned in its verdict that it had taken the circumstances of the case into consideration to reduce the defendant’s sentence, as per Article 72 of the Penal Code of the Kingdom.