By Adnan Al-Shabrawi
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – A Filipino bus driver who killed a Saudi family of three and a Bangladeshi expatriate in November 2008 will be sent to Shihar Psychiatrist hospital in Taif to check his mental condition.
The Summary Court in Jeddah has decided to have a second psychiatric checkup before passing its sentence.
The Filipino, known as “Reno”, drove his bus in the opposite direction on Haramain Road in Jeddah. The speeding bus hit a number of cars, killing a Saudi family and a Bangladesh expat.
After deliberations, which continued for about a year, the court decided to send the accused to Shihar hospital to have a second psychiatric checkup.
The attorney general and the families of the deceased continued to demand capital punishment for the culprit.
They rejected the court’s decision to have a second checkup on the defendant, saying that previous medical reports said the driver was mentally sound.
However, the lawyers of the defendant, appointed by the Philippine Embassy, presented new medical reports which said the accused was suffering from a mental and psychological illness.
During the hearing of the case, which is continuing for nine years, the lawyer of the Saudi family died.
Mohammed Ayed Al-Qarni, 70-year-old, who lost his wife, son and daughter in the accident, said he was anxiously waiting for the death penalty for the driver.
He hoped that he would live until he saw the driver executed.
“I drive for about 600 km to attend court sessions. I have never lost hope for justice,” he said.
A former circuit court called for the execution of the driver for carelessly killing Saad Mohammed Ayed Al-Qarni, his sister Salmah and his mother Ayedah Awad Al-Omari in addition to Waheed Daud Miyah, a Bangladeshi national.
The circuit court also ruled that the driver pay the diayas (blood money) of SR250,000 to the families of the victims.
But the Court of Appeals rejected the verdict based on medical reports which said the driver was mentally ill. It sent the case back to the Summary Court.
