Bahraini police arrested a woman and taken legal steps against her for destroying Hindu religious statues inside a shop. The video of her destroying Ganesha idols inside a store in Manama's area of Juffair, saying Bahrain is a Muslim country, became viral on social media.
The Ministry of Interior of Bahrain tweeted "The Capital Police took legal steps against a woman, 54, for damaging a shop in Juffair and defaming a sect and its rituals, in order to refer her to Public Prosecution".
- Bahraini officials condemned the act, calling it a 'hate crime'. More than half of total 1.7 million population of Bahrain are expatriates from all over the world.
- Royal adviser Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said 'Destroying religious symbols is not part of nature of the Bahraini people'. Its a crime that exposes expatriates and rejected hate, he tweeted.
- The viral video shows, Two women seen standing near a rack where Hindu religious idols were kept, while one women calls the shopkeeper, ask him why this kept here, then she picks up the idols and throws on the floor, while the other woman captures the incident on her phone.
- Soon after it came into the eyes of authorities, Taking a swift action, Bahrain Police arrested the woman and referred her for legal proceedings and the case has been transferred to the Public Prosecution.
- Bahrain has a largest expatriate population including Indians both Hindus and Muslim, almost half of the population of the country are not Bahrainis.
