A brawl in the parking lot of a popular Bahraini fast food outlet in Muharraq has landed two men in prison, after High Criminal Court judges convicted them both of assault.
A 30-year-old Indian manager punched a 61-year-old Bahraini businessman in the face and broke his nose, leaving him with a ‘five per cent disability’, and was sentenced to a year in prison.
The Bahraini man was sentenced to a month in jail after the court heard that he had taken off his oqal (headdress) and whipped the Indian with it.
The Muharraq resident was also charged with intentionally damaging the expatriate’s property – his car – having thrown a rock on it after the fiery fracas.
Both men were found guilty of disrespecting each other in public after exchanging obscene words and gestures.
“The defendant insulted me, and I got out of my car to work things out with him and talk about why he used these disrespectful phrases,” the Bahraini earlier told the Public Prosecution. “But he immediately punched me in the nose multiple times, and I felt dizzy from the assault so I got in my car and left.
“Only later did I realise that the impact caused a nose fracture.”
In a medical report submitted to the court, a doctor stated that the victim faces difficulty inhaling and exhaling, since the fracture made it tougher for air to flow in and out of his nostrils.
According to the forensic physician, the injury constitutes a 5pc disability since it affects the normal functioning of the victim’s body and makes his life harder.
A friend of the Indian man told the court a different version of events.
“I went to Muharraq to change vehicles with him and we stopped at the entrance of a hospital near a famous fast food restaurant,” he said.
“Then, I saw the second defendant (Bahraini) arrive at the lot. He spoke to my mate in Arabic, and we both didn’t understand him.”
They then exchanged insults, he said.
The Bahraini then ‘got out of his car and began hitting him with his oqal’, he told the court, then picked up ‘a rock from the ground and threw it at the car’, before fleeing the scene.
On top of the one-year sentence, High Criminal Court judges ruled to deport the Indian defendant after completing his time in jail.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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