A serial arsonist was sentenced to 10 years in prison for almost completely burning down an uninhabited house in Al Qaryah, Sitra, claiming he was ‘pleasing the spirits of the dead who live there’.
He was fined BD65,000 for the damaged wrecked upon the building – causing ‘100 per cent damage’ to the interiors of the first floor, and 90pc damage to the ground floor.
In 2023, the Sitra man was sentenced to a year in prison for ‘accidentally’ setting fire to his father’s house, and in 2025 received a three-year sentence for another fire.
As with the 2023 case, the self-proclaimed poet claimed that he was burning his romantic poetry and lyrics to ‘vanquish negative vibes’ in the house while taking a smoke, and also to honour the ghosts of its former inhabitants, when he ‘accidentally’ began the blaze.
The High Criminal Court found the 51-year-old Bahraini labourer guilty of intentionally starting a fire and endangering people’s lives and property.
A man from Sitra testified that he received a call from a neighbour that there was a fire at his late father-in-law’s unoccupied home now owned by his heirs.
The 65-year-old called the Civil Defence and provided authorities with the house’s security camera footage. The recordings showed the defendant entering it shortly before the fire started.
A Civil Defence report concluded that the fire was manmade. Photos of the aftermath, attached to court files, show a house with completely blackened interior, with furniture and possessions burned to a crisp.
The defendant was identified from the videos and was arrested weeks later at the airport when police flagged him as ‘wanted’ as he was about to travel to Thailand on vacation.
“On the morning of the incident, I went to my wife’s house,” the defendant earlier told the Public Prosecution. “At 8.30am I went to the house facing ours to smoke cigarettes.
“I don’t really go there for a reason. I usually pray for the dead who used to live in the house. I also often write poems on paper, then burn them there.
“The owner of the house was my neighbour and I had no issues with the family whatsoever.”
The GDN reported in 2023 that the defendant was sentenced to three years in prison for starting a fire in his Sitra family home, and was ordered to pay damages to his siblings.
The sentence was reduced to one year upon appeal, but he found himself in court again the following year over for the same crime, and in 2025 was sentenced to another three years in prison and ordered to pay BD800 in damages.
In the 2023 case, his lawyer tried to argue that he was under the influence of psychiatric medication, but he was declared fit to stand trial.
A neighbour, who witnessed the incident, stated that the defendant ‘did not seem bothered by it’ and ‘didn’t want to put out the flames’.
He reportedly underwent two evaluations at the Psychiatric Hospital, both of which found him to not have any mental health issues. The court also heard he had previous convictions for drug charges and for deliberately damaging property.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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