Dubai: An African expat has been sentenced to life for killing his roommate within 24 hour of landing in Bahrain on a job visa, local media reported.
The Fourth High Criminal Court gave a life term to the African man after he was found guilty of killing his roommate during a fight in their residence in the Ma’ameer area.
The Head of the Capital Governorate Prosecution said the man will be deported from Bahrain after serving the life term. The suspect is also said to have tried to commit suicide after killing his roommate. During the trial, the defendant’s lawyer Abdul Wahab Amin pleaded with the judge not to charge the man with premeditated murder and that the crime occurred during the fight provoked by the victim.
The lawyer told the court that his client was in Bahrain for a job and accused the victim of provocation and attacking his client using wood planks and sticks. “The man was trying to defend himself when the mishap occurred,” the lawyer said.
During the investigation, the accused had said he came to Bahrain to work for three months with a salary of BD1,600 dinars. However, upon arriving at the airport, things did not progress as intended. “First of all, there was no one to receive me at the airport, for which I had to wait for hours. Finally, when the pick-up arrived, I had to pay BD20 for a space to sleep.”
The ordeal continued to the next day too. “The next day, no one came to take me to the work-site, which I had to find myself, with much difficulty and after spending BD5 for a ride.” And unlike what was agreed before, the company asked me to sign a three-year contract instead of three months.
“They also refused to give me a copy of the contract. The company also asked me to vacate the accommodation they had provided me the other day by charging BD20 to move into the company’s facility and offered no refund. So, I went to the company’s housing and walked into the room, which had other people too.”
He added: “They, however, objected to the idea of me staying with them and soon we ended up in a fistfight. In a fit of rage, I took a knife and stabbed one of them and attempted to stab another, as the rest of the men in the room jumped out and ran away."
One of the witnesses, who was in a room opposite to the victim’s room, told the court he came out hearing screams.
“I saw blood gushing from under the room’s door. I also noticed bloodstains on the corridor between the rooms. When I came, the victim was lying face down in a pool of blood,” the witness said. Public Prosecution said they were alerted of the incident by Capital Governorate Police Directorate.
