Badriya Ali, Rest in Peace – My Heart Weeps for Bahrain

Badriya Ali, a story from a Friend
14 January, 2011

Badriya Ali is a 59 year old woman from Sanabis. In April security forces raided Badriya Ali’s home to arrest her son, Ahmed Mushaima, who is 25 years old. They beat him severely in front of her, banging his head against the corner of an air conditioner repeatedly. Badriya screamed at them to stop beating her son, and an officer responded “shut up, we arrest women too”. They then pulled her old sick husband from bed to arrest him, but he was too weak and fell to the ground, where they left him. Badreya fainted after watching her son being severely beaten. Before leaving, the officers wrote “long live khalifa” on the walls of her home.

Some of those officers were: Faisal Bakhsh, Khalid and Taher AlAlawi. They stole 4500 BD, 3 phones, a laptop and Ahmed’s wallet. Since that raid, according to her daughter Zahra, Badriya went into deep depression.For a week Badriya cried continuously, after which she fell completely silent. When Badriya’s son was released she got a bit better, but a couple of weeks ago their village which is constantly under excessive attacks was attacked again, and Badriya witnessed an old woman being chased by security forces in the street. Since that day Badriya was terrified, and her family had to watch her constantly. She was afraid of any small sound, convinced they would come back for her children. A couple of weeks ago Badriya told her children that she couldn’t take it anymore, and to let her go to the riot police so she can be killed.

Zahra says she was busy with her daughter for five minutes, only to find her mother had set herself on fire on the roof. She died of her burns today.