A worshipper, who entered a private home thinking it was a mosque, suffered considerable hearing loss after the homeowner violently slapped him for trespassing.
The angry 60-year-old who encountered his uninvited visitor will now perform a year of community service after High Criminal Court judges found him guilty of rupturing the man’s eardrum with a single blow to the cheek.
The victim was left with a ‘seven per cent disability’ and long-term hearing loss in his left ear, as the injury has yet to heal.
The court heard that in August, a 62-year-old Bahraini had just left Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) after taking a blood test.
Since he was unable to pray on time while his blood sample was being taken, he went looking for a mosque in the Salmaniya area to perform his noon prayer.
He recounted trying to enter a building, thinking it was a mosque ‘because the exterior had religious decoration’.
After opening the front door, he soon discovered it was in a family home.
He was chased by the defendant, who told him to ‘keep out’ and then slapped him across the left cheek.
The defendant denied assaulting the victim.
“On the day of the incident, I forgot to lock the door, and the man was able to enter,” he explained to the court.
“It’s an old house decorated with religious symbols.”
“I yelled at the trespasser, telling him that this wasn’t a mosque, there’s a bell at the door, and that the privacy of homes is sacred.”
“I didn’t assault him. I’m old man who’s had no problems with the law and I was simply defending the privacy of my home.”
The 62-year-old stated that he had apologised to the homeowner as soon as he realised his mistake and was surprised when the defendant attacked him.
He went home, but suffered from pain and ringing in his ear, so he went back to SMC’s Accidents and Emergencies unit that night and was told that his eardrum was ruptured.
When asked by a prosecutor how he mistook a private home for a house of worship when no one was there, he answered that prayer time had passed, and so it was expected for the mosque to be empty.
Four months after the August incident, an Interior Ministry-appointed doctor evaluated the victim’s condition, and determined that the injury had not yet healed.
Although the retiree still suffered jaw pain, there was no swelling or bruises, the doctor stated.
In Bahrani law, if an injury takes more than 21 days to make a complete recovery from, then the injury is considered permanent or long-term.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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