Page 441 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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Rank Allowances :
L/Naik................................................ 7/8
Naik ................................................ 15/-
Havildar 30/-
Head Havildar 50/-
Instruction Allowance for Indian Havildar 10/-
Clerical Allowance 15/-
Painting Allowance 10/-
Driving Heavy Vehicle 30/-
Driving Light Vehicle 15/-
MotorCyclc 10/-
Mounted Section 4/-

Crinie.—One murder occurred. A Baloochi woman living in the Telegraph area, which
has now developed into a very undesirable district, was found dead on her bed with wounds on
her ears and on her body which apparently caused her death. Investigations revealed that she
was involved in a family quarrel. Her son wished to bring his wife to live in the house with his
mother, the father of the girl however refused to allow his daughter to live in the house of her
mother-in-law. This caused very bitter feeling. Some evidence suggested that the girl’s father
had murdered the women but as insufficient proof was forthcoming no case was made by the
Police in Court. The matter is still under Police investigations.

A Persian, Mirza Ahmed Ali, committed suicide by swallowing camphor. He left a letter
saying that he took his life owing to financial troubles.
There was a decrease in the number of theft cases which were reported to the Police. Out
of 303 reported cases 83 were forwarded to the Courts, 220 cases were not detected. It is not
unlikely that a certain number of the cases which were reported were not in fact genuine. In
1370 there were 340 reports of thefts of goods varying between large sums of money and old
clothes or cooking pots. It is believed that almost every theft that occurs is reported to the
Police. The lack of unemployment contributes to the decrease of thefts, many of those who
were convicted during the year were habitual thieves and none of them had taken to thieving
because they could not support themselves by working.
The theft cases during 1371 included the breaking into a store belonging to Cable and
Wireless Ltd., from which a quantity of copper wire was stolen and theft of money and clothes
from a hotel in the bazaar. In both cases the thieves were caught, in the second case one of the
men who was arrested was found to be an escaped convict for whom the Police had been looking
for several years. He had gone to Kuwait but returned to Bahrain.
Among the undetected cases were three thefts of gold ornaments from inside houses in
which people living in the houses were probably concerned. These cases always present a
difficult problem to the Police. In the case of the theft of money from a village shop the accused
were acquitted for lack of evidence. Another undetected burglary was at the house of the Officer-
in-Charge of Public Works where a number of articles including a carpet, a sewing machine and
a gramophone were stolen while the inmates of the house were asleep.
A serious case of cheating was proved after lengthy investigation against one of the senior
clerks in the Accounts Department. The clerk, a subject of Aden, misappropriated about
Rs. 7,000/- by issuing false receipts and by wrongly obtaining money from the public in settle­
ment of electric bills.
Out of 40 persons who were prosecuted for liquor and drug offences 27 persons were
convicted for being in possession of or manufacturing liquor and five persons were convicted of
possessing opium or Hashish. In one case a man was caught by the Customs authorities in
possession of 24 lbs. of opium. Although comparatively few drug dealers were arrested yet
there is reason to believe that large quantities of opium and Hashish are being brought to
Bahrain from India and Persia, via Dubai, and sold to persons on steamers at anchor in Bahrain
who convey the goods to Europe or America. A case occurred in which three coolies employed
in harbour work were found to be in possession of several ingots of gold which they claimed that
they had received in payment for selling fish, etc., to ships crews. The large sum which the gold
represented was probably paid for opium but no evidence was forthcoming to justify a
prosecution.