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An insurance clerk, who allegedly hit policemen with a metal wheel wrench then took off his underwear to taunt them, is on trial for assaulting and disrespecting police officers.
In the incident in March this year, police had been sent to the 41-year-old Bahraini man’s house in Sanad to arrest him after his sister lodged a domestic violence complaint against him.
There was at least one arrest warrant already out for him, the High Criminal Court heard.
Besides assault, the defendant was also charged with insulting a civil servant in public in the line of duty, preventing security officers from carrying out their jobs, intentionally damaging Interior Ministry property and committing an obscene act in public.
He has denied the charges, with his defence arguing that he could not be held responsible for his actions as he had been in a ‘fugue state of rage’ at the time of the incident.
His lawyers also claimed that the witnesses were merely repeating other witness statements, without providing genuine recollections to the Public Prosecution.
The police officer, who was reportedly assaulted, earlier testified.
“While on patrol, I received a despatch about the defendant from the South Capital Police Station, concerning a domestic report,” he said.
“We saw him behind his house, and my partner and I identified ourselves.
“We asked him for his name, and found out that he was the wanted individual. We let him know that there was a report against him from his sister.”
According to the officer, the defendant yelled, “What do you want from me?”, and ran away. A chase ensued, during which he allegedly threatened the officers with a metal wheel wrench.
“When we tried to get hold of him, he smacked me on the head with the wrench, and hit my partner indiscriminately when he came to help me.
“We managed to overpower him, but when we tried to get him into the patrol vehicle, he resisted again and laid on the ground. That is when he took off his underwear and clothes.”
The officers asked for reinforcements, and the defendant’s sister reportedly brought him a new set of clothes, which he wore and was taken away by authorities.
Although the two policemen were left with scratches and bruises all over their body, a medical report stated that the injuries were mild and had no impact on the officers’ well-being.
Several photos of the policemen post-attack were attached to the court files. One of the images showed an officer with a blood-stained collar, and the other had a red mark on his head from the alleged assault.
The trial was adjourned to June 16 for defence arguments.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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