A chauffeur who fatally struck a young mother with his car as she pushed a stroller across a crosswalk, injuring her son, has lost his appeal at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court.
In February, the Bangladeshi private driver was sentenced to a year in prison by the High Criminal Court for vehicular manslaughter. Judges ruled to deport him after completing his sentence.
The 38-year-old appellant was found guilty of causing the death of a 26-year-old Yemeni woman who was crossing Mahzoora Avenue in Riffa with her one-and-a-half-year-old son.
He was earlier convicted of five charges – reckless driving, causing wrongful death, property damage, injuring the child and endangering the lives of pedestrians.
On November 30, at around 3pm, the appellant’s car crashed into the woman, and also collided with the stroller, causing the infant to fall onto the street.
According to a General Directorate of Traffic report, the force of the collision propelled the young mother 34 metres along the road. An ambulance rushed to the scene, but the victim, Asma Saleh Abdulla, died en route to BDF Hospital.
The orphaned boy was taken to Salmaniya Medical Complex for treatment of his mild injuries and remained under observation during his hospital stay. He was discharged the following day.
Although part of the court documents said his injuries were minor and not life-threatening, another document states that he suffered from bruises to his liver.
The GDN reported that the appellant denied all charges during the initial trial, and claimed that he was driving only at 60 to 70kmph.
In a defence memo, the expat chauffeur’s lawyer blamed the deceased mother for the accident, claiming that she walked in front of the suspect’s car ‘while knowing how dangerous it was’.
He also alleged that she was ‘crossing the street in a place not dedicated for pedestrians’.
Meanwhile, the victim’s autopsy revealed that she had sustained skull fractures, severe internal bleeding and multiple injuries. Upon testing, she appeared to have had no alcohol or narcotics in her system.
The Bangladeshi appellant, too, tested negative for all sorts of intoxicants.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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