Kuwaiti Interior Ministry officer receives seven years in jail for paralysing worker in car wash dispute
Court also orders him to pay compensation for material and psychological damage
Cairo: Kuwait’s highest appeals court has issued a final seven-year jail sentence for a Kuwaiti Interior Ministry officer convicted of severely injuring a Bangladeshi expatriate worker during a dispute over a car wash in 2023.
The Court of Cassation handed down this irrevocable ruling against the officer, who was found guilty of assaulting the worker and causing him permanent quadriplegia — paralysis of all four limbs.
The court also ordered the officer to pay compensation for the material and psychological damage caused to the victim.
According to reports in Al Qabas newspaper, prosecutors accused the officer of inflicting injuries that impaired the victim’s body functions by at least 50%. The incident occurred in January 2023 when the officer, holding the rank of colonel, allegedly attacked the worker following a disagreement over washing his car.
Initially, a criminal court sentenced the defendant to 10 years in prison. However, after an appeal where the officer pleaded innocent and claimed the victim had fallen on his own and had a pre-existing injury, the sentence was reduced to seven years in January.
The appeals court upheld the conviction, dismissing the defendant’s claims. It cited solid evidence from eyewitnesses, the victim’s testimony, and a forensic medical report to support its decision.