A woman, who set fire to her bed ‘because a devil in her head told her to do it’ has been sentenced to three years in prison by the High Criminal Court.
She was found guilty of starting the blaze and endangering the lives of others. The Civil Defence had to evacuate the residential apartment building in Juffair.
The 27-year-old Pakistani, who did not have a work visa, was asked to pay back BD2,400 for the damage she caused. Judges ruled to deport her after the completion of her sentence.
In January, she reportedly used a lighter and a piece of clothing as a fire starter, then poured oil in the flat ‘to increase the extent of the blaze’.
The expatriate previously admitted to the charges, stating that she had started the fire and left the flat, while her lawyer suggested that she was on a ‘methamphetamine bender’ when she carried out the act.
According to her attorney, the defendant was hearing voices in her head, telling her that the bed was possessed with a demon, and that she needed to vanquish it with fire.
“My client had no criminal intent,” the lawyer told the court. “She was not in control of her actions.
“She did not mean to vandalise or destroy – she was acting on a delusion that overcame her, and she thought she was getting rid of the thing that was harming her.
“She imagined that there was an entity telling her to do certain things, that made her behave in strange and deviant ways. That is proof that she has a psychological condition that took away her sense of reason.”
The lawyer added that the defendant had also consumed alcohol at the time of the incident, and referenced her criminal record, in which she was previously accused of consuming drugs.
“The defendant has a history of using methamphetamine, which causes hallucinations and psychosis and that puts the user in a state of utter delusion.
“Her actions were to fight an imagined devil in her bed, and she did not commit them with the intention to damage the building or disturbing her neighbours.”
The attorney asked for a new psychological evaluation to be conducted, since the one she underwent found that she could be held responsible for her actions, and that she is fit to stand trial. The request was refused and judges convicted her of arson.
The court heard the testimony of a Bahraini security guard, who received a phone call from the building’s reception that there was a fire in one of the units. He recalled seeing smoke ‘spilling out’ of the floor the flat was on, and called the emergency services.
On January 22, the GDN reported that Civil Defence personnel evacuated residents from a multi-storey building and extinguished a fire that broke out in one of the apartments. No injuries were reported.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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