Khaberni - The Head of the Family and Child Prosecution in Bahrain stated that the Public Prosecution received a complaint from government hospitals about the refusal of relatives of a patient – a person with disabilities – to receive him from the hospital after he was treated for an immune disease. The complaint included that the patient, who has a mild mental disability, was admitted to a government hospital since 2015, underwent all necessary medical examinations and procedures over two weeks since his admission. Despite repeated attempts to convince his parents to take him home and continue his care, they refused, resulting in the patient spending over ten years in the government hospital due to his parents' obstinacy and their ongoing refusal to take him because of his intellectual disability.
The prosecution began investigating soon after receiving the report, listening to the testimony of the Deputy Head of the Long-Term Stay Committee at government hospitals, who confirmed that the patient's health condition did not warrant hospitalization. Meetings were held repeatedly with his father and mother to persuade them to take him, all to no avail. It was added that the complainant against them had reached the age of forty and that his intellectual disability made his thinking capacity similar to that of a ten-year-old child and posed no danger either to his family or to society.
Investigations conducted by the prosecution confirmed that the son – a person with disabilities – has been registered with the Ministry of Social Development as eligible for disability benefits since 2005, and that his parents had been collecting the benefit amount since then. The prosecution also questioned his father and mother, who outright refused to take their son on the grounds of their inability to care for him. Consequently, the prosecution ordered their trial, charging them with neglect in fulfilling their obligations to care for their son from the category of persons with disabilities, a crime punishable under Law No. (74) of 2006 concerning the care, rehabilitation, and employment of persons with disabilities, with imprisonment and fine.
In this context, the Head of the Prosecution explained that while the state is committed to ensuring the rights of community members and covering its categories with care, there is a corresponding responsibility on those who have natural and legal guardianship over the persons they are required to care for. The defendants' refusal to receive their son – a person with disabilities – from the hospital and their continued rejection over a period exceeding ten years constitutes a severe breach of their responsibility imposed by religion and law, especially as they continued to receive his allowance registered as a person with disabilities in the state records.
