Murder accused faces additional charges

Manama : A Nigerian man accused of killing a Bahraini man while they were admitted at the Bahrain Psychiatric Hospital had also attempted to murder a duty police officer, new court files reveal. 

The man is believed to have strangled the police officer at a prison clinic. Witnesses said that the man held the officer by his neck. The officers called for help saved him from being killed. As a result, the Nigerian man is facing an additional charge of attacking a police officer on duty.

According to court files, the man was admitted at the hospital after he was accused in a robbery case. He was caught stealing mobile phones from a hotel where he was employed as a security staff. The court wanted to ascertain if he was mentally well and could be held responsible for his actions. 

He was thus kept for observation in a room along with another inmate - a Bahraini man.

“He was facing huge mental pressure and avoided everybody. He was not eating or sleeping and tried to commit suicide on multiple occasions,” a nurse at the hospital told prosecutors.

“His condition improved but he was kept under observation in a room with the victim.” 

On the fateful day, the victim slept early, but the defendant did not. At 5.30am, a nurse who passed by the outside the room looked through the window and found the defendant sitting atop the victim. He had strangled him.

When she rushed in he punched her and she ran to call for help. Other nurses came and controlled the defendant who was violent then.

Though the staff tried to revive the victim, he was eventually declared dead after 25 minutes of rescue efforts.  

The medical panel that probed the incident eventually declared that the defendant could be deemed responsible for his acts. He did not have any major mental disorder and was aware of right and wrong, they concluded. The incident happened on June 7.