Jail for Bahraini man who beat up his ex-wife

Manama : The Third Lower Criminal Court yesterday sentenced the Bahraini man who brutally assaulted his Syrian ex-wife at their home in Jeblat Habshi to one-year imprisonment.

This was confirmed yesterday by Northern Governorate Prosecution Chief Mohammed Salah, who said the 52-year-old man in custody will spend the next twelve months behind bars.

The case surfaced on September 16 when the 32-year-old victim, identified as Zahra Subhi, appeared in a video in a terrible state, pleading to the authorities to save her and her five children from the ex-husband, who she claimed, was trying to harm her and the children.

Few hours after the video was widely spread on local social media, the Northern Governorate Police Directorate announced that the man was in police custody and that he would be interrogated by the Public Prosecution.

The prosecution then said that it had interrogated the man in the presence of his attorney, heard the testimonies of the hospitalised victim, her daughter and neighbour, and referred the suspect to the concerned court.

Subhi was taken by ambulance to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) few days following the incident, as her daughter informed the neighbours about her mother’s deteriorated condition.

At SMC, she was diagnosed with concussion, haemorrhage and severe bruises and inflammations on the face and other parts of her body, caused by the man’s brutal attack.

Although no information was revealed by the judiciary on the attacker’s motives, Subhi claimed in the video message that he frequently assaulted her during their ten years of marriage, and the last attack was three months after they were divorced.

The case shook the Bahraini society and raised the issue of domestic violence in Bahrain, with calls for fundamental solutions for such issues.

Several authorities immediately took action after Subhi’s video was widely shared on local and regional social media networks.

The Supreme Council for Women had assigned an attorney to follow up the case in court. 

Labour and Social Development Ministry also allocated an apartment for the victim and her five children. Scores of representatives of civil societies and rights groups had also visited the woman in the hospital.