Jail term upheld in assault case

Manama

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The High Criminal Court has upheld the initial sentence issued earlier against a 23-year-old Bahraini man who physically attacked his girlfriend. The latter, aged 24, is said to have incurred the anger of her boyfriend when she went to visit him while he was staying in a chalet in Amwaj Island to discuss his relationship with another woman who was working with him.

 "I spotted her courting him, so I went to him and I knocked the door of the chalet as I wanted answers from him," she told prosecutors. 

 But the defendant reportedly knocked the woman down before dragging her from hair and kicked her, according to court files. She was eventually rescued by security guards in the island, who rushed there hearing her screams. 

 However, the defendant gave another version of the incident. He said that the 24-year-old woman came to him, and he shouted at her to leave. "She insisted to stay. So I pushed her towards her car, and when she opened the door, she hit her face. She screamed and she fell down to the ground," he said. "Security guards flocked and asked me if we need an ambulance but I took her to hospital by myself," he added. 

 The defendant, however, was given one month in jail, which was also upheld by the High Criminal Appeals Court.

 It is worth to note that the victim had earlier withdrew the case, but later told that court that she wanted to continue because “the defendant didn't ask about her when he was released on bail".