Page 239 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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and 406 in Bahrain courts, there arc 18,471 foreigners in Bahrain, including Europeans and 91,179
Bahrain subjects.
One ease of suspected murder occurred. A boy 10 years old was found drowned, under
suspicious circumstances, at Muharraq. An older youth, with whom the boy had been intimate,
committed suicide when it was known that the boy's body was found, by drinking sulphuric acid.
A Persian who was in financial difficulties tried to commit suicide by taking a quantity of opium.
In another case a man who had a quarrel with a youth with whom lie had been friendly threw acid
over him when he was asleep. This was the first case of this type in Bahrain. It has been suggested
that the cinema may be responsible for some incidents of this kind.
Another Persian, who pretended to be a merchant, obtained on credit a number of radios and
wrist watches which he promptly pawned. All the goods were recovered and the culprit went to jail
for eight months.
Two rival taxi drivers had a quarrel and persons unknown poured parrafin over one of their
cars and set it on fire. There was insufficient evidence to obtain a prosecution in this case. During
the year 37 persons were prosecuted for being in possession of, or selling, liquor and 14 persons were
prosecuted for using or selling opium or hashish. The use of locally manufactured liquor, Arak,
decreased and the amount of whisky and gin in the black market increased. Taxi drivers and
prostitutes were the people most involved in liquor cases.
A quantity of silver ornaments, stolen some years previously by an Iraqi, were found by some
gardeners in the middle of a thick hedge on the Jufair Road. They were identified by the owner.
A prisoner escaped from the Government Hospital and managed to reach the Rafaa Camp
where he was given shelter by some Omanis. On the same day he was located by the police. When
the police went to arrest him they were set upon by the Omanis and there was a fracas. Nine of
the Omanis were arrested and sentenced to 6 months hard labour and the prisoner received an
additional two months imprisonment. The belief that a fugitive from justice seeking refuge with other
Arabs should not be surrendered to the authorities is not now accepted in Bahrain.
Thefts.—There were 266 cases of theft reported to the police during the year, in 1368 there
were 321 cases. Of these 91 cases were presented in court and in 175 cases the perpetrators were not
traced. During the month of Dhul-Qaudah there were an unusual number of thefts in Manamah and
a special police patrol was ordered. A Qatar Arab was caught attempting to steal and when he was
questioned he admitted to having committed 5 thefts, in one of them he stole Rs. 2,000 worth of
jewellery from a house. He was prosecuted and sentenced to one year’s rigorous imprisonment and
a fine of Rs. 200.

Seven cases of thefts of gold bullion, money and gold ornaments were reported ; in three cases
the thefts remained undetected, in four cases the thieves were caught and prosecuted. In one case
an Indian goldsmith, who was carrying a box containing 70 liras of gold and Rs. 9001, was walking
along a street in Manamah when an unknown man snatched the box from him and ran away. A pro­
clamation was issued offering a reward for information leading to the recovery of the gold but no result
was obtained. The Awal Cinema was broken into and Rs. 4,000 was said to have been stolen from a
drawer in a desk and a merchant in Muharraq lost 62 gold liras from his house. In both these cases
the police were unsuccessful.
Theft of ornaments worth about Rs. 4,000 from one of the houses of the American Mission was
reported to the police. The thief was caught and all the stolen property was recovered. A house
in Sitra was broken into and money and jewels were stolen. The thieves were apprehended before
they had time to dispose of the goods. In another case of theft it was found that the culprit was a
blind man who nevertheless stole money from a box in a house which he sometimes visited and hid it
by burying it near some huts on the e:lge of the town. In one of these cases stolen property was
found hidden in the Manamah cemetery but the man who had stolen and buried it inadvertently
dropped a driving license close to the spot which led to his arrest.