An appeals court has upheld a 10-year prison term against a bus driver who attempted to kill his former partner with a hammer, fracturing her jaws and leaving her with a ‘five per cent permanent disability’.
The High Criminal Court earlier found the 43-year-old Ghanaian man guilty of attacking the 38-year-old Kenyan housemaid after breaking into her apartment and overpowering her.
“The appellant intended to kill the victim, but failed to do so due to a factor outside his control, and she was able to escape and receive medical treatment,” read the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court ruling.
The defence team had requested that the victim and witness be re-summoned to testify before the court, but judges refused to, stating that it was ‘unnecessary’ and the testimonies were ‘sufficient’.
“The attorney claimed that the witness’ accounts of the story are contradictory, but all that matters is that the victim’s testimony is consistent with the medical report, especially when it came to the tool that was used to attack her,” read the verdict.
“Hence, the court finds that there is no merit in re-discussing it.
“The defence also argued that the appellant was not captured by CCTV in the act of entering or exiting the victim’s residence, but that does not rule it out as he could have entered through a path outside of the camera’s view.
“As to the defence argument that no traces of the appellant were left in the crime scene, and therefore he could not have been there – that is simply because he came in wearing gloves to not leave behind any evidence that may identify him.”
The GDN earlier reported that in January this year, the man went to the woman’s residence in Sitra and forced his way in after she responded to a knock on the door.
A scuffle broke out and the enraged lover reportedly overpowered the woman, pushed her onto the bed, took out a green-coloured metal hammer and attacked her face with it.
The woman began bleeding profusely, and after she lost consciousness, the appellant thought he had killed her and got up to wipe the blood splattered on the wall.
The victim heard a knock at the door, and took the brief distraction as an opportunity to get up and flee; a friend of hers had arrived to change a gas cylinder.
After being admitted to Salmaniya Medical Complex’s accidents and emergencies department, the woman underwent maxillofacial surgery to stabilise her wounds.
However, doctors were unable to reverse the effects of the vicious assault and a medical examiner ruled that her injuries constituted a 5pc permanent disability.
A medical report revealed that the woman had sustained injuries to her head and ear, internal injuries in the skull, fractures in the jaws, had lost five of her upper teeth and suffered multiple lacerations.
Two days after the incident, she underwent plastic surgery to heal her facial and scalp wounds and bleeding in the cornea. She was put on a diet of soft food while she recovered.
A medical discharge report noted that she suffered cuts that reached up to the skull, exposed her cartilage, and also lost tissue and skin as a result of the attack.
The court heard that the victim’s friend, who arrived at the door, was stunned to see her rushing out in a distressed state with her face covered in blood.
He stepped inside the apartment, attempting to restrain the appellant who managed to escape on to the street.
Judges heard that a second witness, a 24-year-old Bahraini man from Al Kharijiya, spotted the attempted murderer’s bloodied shirt and immediately realised something was amiss.
He followed the fleeing appellant in his car and called the police while keeping an eye on him. The accused was apprehended and arrested shortly afterwards.
The victim’s sister, who was alerted and went to the hospital, said that it took two hours for her sibling to regain consciousness.
It is unclear whether or not the Ghanaian was married to the Kenyan housemaid, as it is mentioned in some but not all of the court documents.
According to the High Criminal Court verdict, the two Africans were in a relationship for a year, but when the Kenyan woman asked to break up, the Ghanaian man was shocked.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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