Page 163 - Bahrain Gov annual reports (V a)_Neat

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Crimes and Accidents. The disturbances during the month of Muharram and during the
strikes are dealt with elsewhere.

Suicides. A few years ago suicides were almost unknown in Bahrain, recently they have
increased and in several cases they have been carried out by burning.
The wife of a Policeman after quarrelling with her husband poured kerosene over her
clothes and set them alight. She died from burning.

A man, who was known to be insane, committed suicide in the same way. Last year a
teacher in one of the girls’ schools killed herself by pouring kerosene over herself and setting
herself alight.
Another man, living in Muharraq, who had often threatened to kill himself, committed
suicide by hanging.
In another case a man after a domestic quarrel tried to kill himself with a knife, he was
prevented from doing so by his family.

Accidental Deaths. A girl of eight years old was found drowned, after being missing
from her home for three days, in the sea near Nabieh Saleh. There was no suspicion of foul
play.
There were three cases of death by electrocution, in one case a man who was working in a
garage with an electric lamp broke the lamp and received a shock which killed him ; a coffee-
shop keeper was electrocuted while repairing his gramophone, and a cooli was killed when
painting after touching a broken electric wire.
A woman and her two children lost their lives when the wall of their house fell on them at
Sitra and a man working on the Silra pier was killed by a falling barrel.

Stabbing and other cases. Two men had a slight disagreement in the bazaar, they were
strangers to each other, one of them, who was under the influence of liquor, pulled out a
revolver, which he had brought from Saudi Arabia, and shot the other in the hand and in the
side. The injured man recovered. The assailant was sentenced to 6A years R.I. for shooting
and being in possession of firearms.
A thief broke into the house of a Baluchi, the owner of the house was roused and tried to
catch the thief who stabbed him with a knife causing serious injuries. The thief was caught
and sent to prison for six years.
In another stabbing case two men were arguing about some money which one of them
claimed to have deposited with the other. One of the men pulled out a knife and stabbed the
other in the abdomen causing injuries. Bystanders intervened and prevented more damage
being done.

An Omani had an argument with another Omani and picked up a piece of iron with which
he struck his friend on the head. The injured man died in hospital. The aggressor was
sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
Two men had a quarrel in the Muharraq vegetable market, in the struggle which ensued
one of them fell down, and died immediately. Evidence was produced that the dead man was
in bad health. In this case there should have been an autopsy but public opinion in Bahrain
is very averse to such proceedings. The incident occurred at a time when Sunni-Shia feeling
was very strong. The survivor was given one year R.I.

Thefts. A large number of thefts were reported to the Police during the period under
review, most of them were pickpocketing and thefts of clothes, but there were a number of
burglaries. In 1372, 280 thefts were reported, in 1954 there were 396 reported cases. It is
believed that the increase in crime of this type is due to the influx of foreigners. In most of
the serious cases the people concerned were Persians or Omanis.