Man claims race attack
By Begena George
Published: 19th October 2006
POLICE and embassy officials are investigating an attack on an Indian barber, who says he was bound, gagged, bundled into an alleyway, beaten and slashed with a carpet knife by five Bahrainis. He was robbed of BD41, but officials are probing the possibility that the attack was racially motivated.
Mustafa V Hamza, 30, initially thought he was being mugged, but said his attackers kept on telling him that he didn’t deserve a Bahraini passport – even though he had never applied for one.
The incident happened while the father-of-two was returning to his home, in Sanabis, after visiting a friend.
Man claims race attack
By Begena George
Published: 19th October 2006
POLICE and embassy officials are investigating an attack on an Indian barber, who says he was bound, gagged, bundled into an alleyway, beaten and slashed with a carpet knife by five Bahrainis. He was robbed of BD41, but officials are probing the possibility that the attack was racially motivated.
Mustafa V Hamza, 30, initially thought he was being mugged, but said his attackers kept on telling him that he didn’t deserve a Bahraini passport – even though he had never applied for one.
The incident happened while the father-of-two was returning to his home, in Sanabis, after visiting a friend.
He was ambushed at around 8.30pm on Friday, but has not been able to work since the attack – saying he can barely stand.
“I was on my way to my room from Manama and as I was walking along the deserted road three Bahraini men came up to me,” said Mr Hamza, who works at the Howra Salon, in Sanabis.
“One of them pulled my hands behind me and tied them with masking tape.
“Another man plastered my mouth and all the while the third person kept hitting me, trying to control me when I was attempting to get free.
“They then carried me to a remote alley, showering abuse on me and pressing a carpet knife to my throat.
“My initial thought was that I was being mugged for money and valuables, but my attackers asked me if I wanted a Bahraini passport.
“They were saying all sorts of things like Indians don’t deserve to get Bahraini citizenship, but just work here like dogs.
“With each punch one man kept asking: ‘You need a Bahraini passport, don’t you?'”
Mr Hamza, from Palakkad in Kerala, said two other men, also Bahrainis, approached them to find out what was going on.
However, instead of helping him they joined in the attack.
“They kept screaming ‘Kill the Indian’,” said Mr Hamza, who arrived in Bahrain almost three years ago.
“They kept hitting me so hard that I fell to the ground.
“One of the men crushed my face with his shoe on the sharp concrete stones.
“After a few minutes, when they thought that I had died, they began to leave.
“I too thought I was just a few seconds away from death’s door – my nose was bleeding and my body was badly aching.
“I moved a little in pain, but one of them saw this and called to the others asking them to join him in killing me as I wasn’t dead yet.
“That’s why I’m sure that their intention was not just to hurt me, but to actually kill me.
“The five of them kicked me from all sides and slashed my body with the carpet knife and I was partially unconscious.”
He said that he had been lying there for some time when he saw an Indian approaching.
“I thought he was going to where my attackers were and I tried to warn him,” said Mr Hamza. “But he came to my rescue and I managed to tell him where I worked.
“My sponsor was notified and he took me to the police station to file a case.”
He was then taken to Salmaniya Medical Complex, where Mr Hamza claims he had to wait six hours before being given any painkillers.
Although he is able to recognise one of his attackers he says he is worried about further attacks. “I have a big debt back home, a sick mother, a wife and two children who I need to take care of all by myself,” he said.
“This particular area where I was attacked is terrorised by such people and even small boys throw stones at us Indians when we pass by.
“I know of many men, mostly Indians and sometimes Pakistanis, who are beaten up – but nobody bothers to complain because they don’t expect any results.”
© Gulf Daily News
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/1yr_arc_Articles.asp?Article=159209&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29213&date=10-19-2006
