A Pakistani duo accused of slaying a man in Bahrain in a rampage of revenge had also travelled to Europe to murder his brother as part of the same family feud, a court heard.
The two men, who are standing trial at the High Criminal Court accused of premeditated murder, stalked their victim for weeks before attacking him with kitchen knives in revenge for ‘killing their cousin’, an accusation he had been cleared of.
Victim Wasif Ahmed’s brother testified that one of the defendants had previously murdered another relative in Greece. “My brother (the victim) spent 12 years in jail for murder but he was exonerated by the higher court in Pakistan,” said the 50-year-old.
“It was a false, malicious accusation – my brother didn’t kill anyone. When he left prison, a group of people started hunting him down with the intention of killing him, so I brought him to Bahrain with me on a tourist’s visa.
“After he came here, he travelled on to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah pilgrimage and was killed five days after his return.
“I don’t personally know the suspects, but the second defendant killed my other brother in Greece.”
Both brothers had reportedly fled Pakistan to no avail and were hunted down abroad. The Bahrain victim had already survived numerous murder attempts in his home country.
The court earlier heard that the defendants, aged 25 and 28, followed Mr Ahmed’s every movement for six weeks before ambushing him in a dark alleyway in Budaiya and carrying out their deadly attack.
Security camera video footage of the incident showed they surrounded their target – the first coming at him from the front and the second attacking him from behind.
They each carried a sharp knife, and only stopped stabbing him after making sure he had died.
They were arrested just three hours after the incident as they were attempting to flee the country via the King Fahad Causeway, thanks to vigilant border control police.
A total of four witnesses, including the victim’s older brother, were cross-examined by lawyers yesterday.
The medical examiner, who inspected the crime scene and conducted the victim’s autopsy, was also brought to testify before judges.
He stated that Mr Ahmed sustained injuries on the head, face, chest, back, limbs and between his waist and arms, as well as fractures and both internal and external bleeding.
“The injuries that the victim suffered on his head alone were enough to kill him, without even taking into account all the other wounds he was left with,” he said yesterday.
“The recording showed that, after only 20 seconds of the defendants’ attack, the victim was motionless on the ground.”
A young Egyptian barber who said he witnessed the murder also testified. He recounted walking home from work, while talking to his mother on the phone, and was on his way to buy a cup of chai karak.
“I heard screams in an alley, and I saw two people with sharp implements beating the victim,” the 20-year-old expat said. “I yelled at them and they ran away, but one returned to the crime scene to get his bag back.”
In the previous hearing, a Public Prosecution representative, described the alleged murder as an ‘execution’.
The court adjourned the hearing to February 23 for defence arguments and more witness statements.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))