A hypervigilant homeowner, who delivered a disabling blow to a man who accidentally entered his house, thinking it was a mosque, has lost a court appeal.
A 62-year-old worshipper, who was looking for a place to pray, suffered considerable hearing loss after the 60-year-old homeowner violently slapped him for ‘trespassing’ in August last year.
After a single blow to the cheek, the homeowner ruptured the Bahraini victim’s eardrum, leaving him with a ‘seven per cent disability’ and long-term hearing loss in his left ear, as the injury has yet to heal.
In April, the High Criminal Court sentenced the Bahraini assailant to a year in prison, which judges stated could be replaced by a year of community service, if the defendant so chose.
The retiree took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to appeal the verdict, but the court ruled to uphold it.
The GDN earlier reported that in August, the victim had just left Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) after getting a blood test. Since he was unable to pray on time due to the test, the man was looking for a mosque in the area to perform his noon prayers.
He recounted trying to enter a building, thinking it was a mosque, ‘because the exterior had religious decoration’.
After opening the front door, he discovered it was a house. He was quick to leave, but was reportedly chased by the appellant, who told him to keep out and slapped his left cheek.
However, the appellant denied the assault, stating that he just yelled at the trespasser. “I was simply defending the privacy of my home,” the 60-year-old earlier stated.
Meanwhile, the victim stated that he had apologised to the homeowner as soon as he realised his mistake, but was surprised by the attack.
He went home, but due to pain and ringing in his ear, he went back to SMC’s Accident and Emergency unit that night and was told that his eardrum was ruptured.
Four months after the August incident, an Interior Ministry-appointed doctor evaluated the victim’s condition and determined that the wounds had not yet healed.
Although the victim still suffered jaw pain, there was no swelling or bruises, the doctor stated.
In Bahraini law, if an injury takes more than 21 days to make a complete recovery from, then it is considered permanent or long-term.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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