Bahraini father jailed for abusing son
Manama, March 19, 2014
An abusive father who repeatedly assaulted his seven-year-old son, leaving him in a coma for more than four years, was yesterday jailed for five years.
The 38-year-old Bahraini "viciously" beat his son between 2006 and 2009, according to High Criminal Court documents.
Doctors said as a result of the abuse the boy, who is now 15 years old, suffered severe head injuries, internal bleeding, epilepsy, limb paralysis and 57 per cent mental disability, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.
He was released from hospital after receiving treatment in 2006 and the father was jailed for two weeks, after which the boy's grandmother was awarded full custody.
However, the boy was taken back to hospital in 2009 when he suffered an epileptic attack and went into a coma after his father "aggressively" beat him and pushed him into a car during a family picnic.
The boy is currently in a "vegetative state" at Salmaniya Medical Complex.
"The defendant was given a trusteeship from God, but he betrayed it," read court verdict documents.
"Instead of raising his son and taking care of him, he viciously beat him and left him receiving oxygen and food from a tube in hospital.
"The boy is in a vegetative state.
"Therefore, the court found the defendant guilty of assault due to his confessions and evidence from prosecution witnesses."
The Bahraini mother told prosecutors her son was terrified of her estranged husband and screamed "he is going to kill me" whenever he saw him.
"He viciously beat him all the time and in 2006 he left my son with severe head injuries and he had to undergo an operation," said the 42-year-old woman.
"The court jailed him for two weeks and custody was given to my mother.
"In 2009, my husband and I went to pick him up from my mother's house to take him to a family picnic.
"As soon as my son saw his father, he was terrified and held onto his grandmother as he cried.
"He started running around the house to look for a place to hide, but my husband grabbed him and threw him in the car.
"I then saw my son was not in a normal state as his eyes were weird and he suddenly fainted.
"We took him to a hospital and the doctors told us he is in a coma.
"He has been at SMC since December 2009."
The father told prosecutors during questioning that he assaulted his son because the child did not "accept" him. - TradeArabia News Service
