A pregnant mother of two is on trial for allegedly accidentally striking a motorcyclist with her car, resulting in his death.
The 27‑year‑old defendant – a Gulf national – has been accused at the High
Criminal Court of failing to exercise the necessary caution and care while driving, leading to the fatal incident involving 21‑year‑old expatriate Marwan Omar.
She has also been charged with property damage and failing to comply with road signs and lane markings.
The court heard that the collision happened on November 9 on Salah Aldeen Alayoobi Avenue in the Seef area, when the defendant was crossing an intersection, with her sisters inside the car.
However, instead of going into her designated lane, she allegedly veered into another lane and struck the victim on his motorcycle, and another car in the lane next to him.
Mr Omar was seriously wounded and died on November 18 – nine days after the incident.
His death certificate stated that he died from trauma due to a road traffic accident in Salmaniya Medical Complex. According to court documents, Mr Omar is from Okara, Pakistan.
In a defence memo, the suspect’s lawyer attempted to completely deflect blame from his client, claiming that she had nothing to do with the young expat’s death.
“There is no direct relationship between the defendant’s mistake and the victim’s death,” lawyer Bander Shamal Al Doseri said in a memo submitted to the court.
“One mistake isn’t enough to make someone guilty. It must be proven that there was a direct action-and-consequence relationship between their act and the result.
“If an independent, external factor later contributes to the outcome, then a direct link between the defendant and what took place cannot be established.”
Mr Al Doseri claimed that since the victim was conscious enough to provide testimony to the Public Prosecution, it suggests that something occurred between that time and his subsequent death which may have contributed to his passing.
“The victim was alert enough to testify, meaning he was in a health condition that allowed him to speak to prosecutors,” read the memo.
“This leads us to believe that there may have been health complications, or a medical error, that caused the victim’s death.
“There is doubt about the direct cause of his death, and any such doubt must be interpreted in favour of the defendant.”
He further claimed that the woman was in the correct lane and was simply making a turn based on an online navigation tool, blaming the accident on the map she was looking at.
“She didn’t mean to cause the accident,” he said.
He also stated that the defendant’s pregnancy is high-risk, because she is on immunosuppressive drugs – a fact supported by medical documents issued by a health ministry.
“The defendant requires the utmost levels of mercy, because she is in the middle of her pregnancy, and is mother to two children.”
Judges will issue a verdict on March 31.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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