An undocumented expatriate has been found guilty of accidentally killing a woman outside a hotel near Bab Al Bahrain, after he suddenly drove his car while she was still holding on to the driver’s side window.
The woman fell violently onto the road and suffered a massive brain injury she never recovered from in hospital.
The High Criminal Court sentenced the 33-year-old Egyptian to seven years behind bars on charges of committing assault that unintentionally led to the death of Nawal El Khayati.
Judges also ordered his deportation after completing his prison term.
The incident began when the defendant and three Moroccan women entered into an altercation in front of the Manama hotel. One of the women appeared to be drunk, according to court documents.
Matters got out of hand once the fight turned physical and the Egyptian man attempted to escape the fight in his car while in an ‘anxious and agitated’ state.
“I didn’t want policemen to come to the scene and find out that my residency permit had expired,” he earlier told the Public Prosecution during questioning.
When he abruptly accelerated away, the expat woman fell on to the asphalt and sustained severe head injuries.
Four days later, Ms El Khayati died of brain injuries and head trauma, having suffered a blockage in the artery that supplied her brain with blood as well as several facial fractures.
The GDN previously reported the man’s statements, that he had come to the hotel to pick up one of the women for a dinner date, when a drunk woman entered the back seat, thinking that his car was a taxi.
The fight began when he asked her to leave his vehicle, the defence claimed, when more girls joined the argument to support their intoxicated friend.
He testified that Ms El Khayati was hitting him and punching him in the face as she held on to his car, and that he was in terror that authorities may find that he was undocumented.
In a defence memo, the Egyptian man’s defence stated that their client abruptly turned on the car in panic because he was eager to flee the situation, as he did not want to be deported.
“The victim was in the defendant’s blind spot when she was holding on to the door, and he was turning right so he didn’t see her,” the memo argued. “The defendant was pushed into the criminal case despite not instigating any of the arguments, which were started by the girls’ actions, not his.”
Prosecutors proved to the judges that the driver’s actions were ‘motivated by malice’ and the manslaughter verdict was recorded.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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