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Jail term upheld for stripping in public

Manama

 The one-year jail sentence for a man convicted of stripping his clothes in public has been upheld. The defendant was spotted by the police begging near a local pharmacy. When they approached him he attempted to flee. It's said that he took off his clothes in the middle of the road when an officer chased him. 

 He also threw his phone on the ground. "When I tried to control him, he tore my shirt ropes," the officer told prosecutors. During interrogation, the defendant claimed that he got angry when the police approached him because every time they unjustly accused him of begging. 

 He, however, admitted to taking off his clothes in public. "Whenever a policeman sees me, he comes to me to capture me over accusations of begging. That's untrue," the defendant told prosecutors. However, when examined, his criminal record showed that the defendant was implicated in 33 complaints, nine of which relevant to begging. 

 He was earlier sentenced to one year in jail on grounds of committing an obscene act in public as well as assaulting an on-duty officer. The High Criminal Appeals Court has rejected his appeal.