Man sentenced to life in jail for killing roommate within 24 hours of reaching Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Fourth High Criminal Court gave life term to a man found guilty of killing his roommate and attempted murder during a fight with roommates in their residence in the Ma’ameer area.

Court files say the culprit, an African national, murdered his roommate within 24 hours of landing in Bahrain on a job visa.

The Head of the Capital Governorate Prosecution said the man will be deported permanently from Bahrain after serving the life term.

During the trial, the defendant’s lawyer Abdel Wahab Amin pleaded not to charge the man with premeditated murder and that the crime occurred during the fight provoked by the victims.

The lawyer told the court that his client was in Bahrain for a job and accused the victims of provocation and attacking his client using wood planks and sticks.

“The man was trying to defend himself when the mishap occurred,” the lawyer said. During the investigation, the accused had said that he came to Bahrain to work for three months by paying BD1,600 dinars.

However, upon arriving at the airport, things progressed not as intended. “First of all, there was no one to receive me at the airport, for which I had to wait for hours. Finally, when the pick-up arrived, I had to pay BD20 for a space to sleep.” The ordeal continued to the next day too.

“The next day, no one came to take me to the work-site, which I had to find myself, with much difficulty and after spending BD5 for a ride.” And unlike what was agreed before, the company asked me to sign a three-year contract instead of three months.

“They also refused to give me a copy of the contract.” “The company also asked me to vacate the accommodation they had provided me the other day by charging BD20 to move into the company’s facility and offered no refund.”

“So, I went to the company’s housing and walked into the room, which had other people too.” “They, however, objected to the idea of me staying with them and soon we ended up in a fistfight. “In a fit of rage, I took a knife and stabbed one of them and attempted to stab another, as the rest of the men in the room jumped out and ran away.”

One of the witnesses, who was in a room opposite to the victim’s room, told the court he came out hearing screams. “I saw blood gushing out from under the room’s door. “I also noticed bloodstains on the corridor between the rooms.

“When I came, the victim was lying face down in a pool of blood,” the witness said. Public Prosecution said they were alerted of the incident by Capital Governorate Police Directorate.

The incident occurred at the housing allotted to the victim and the African man in the Ma’ameer area. The Public Prosecution seized evidence of the attack from the crime scene and delegated a forensic doctor to determine the cause of the death.