Rania Al-Baz, a familiar face on Channel 1, in a publicity photo, left, and on Sunday in her bed in Bugshan Hospital in Jeddah. (AN photo by Essam Al-Ghalib)

JEDDAH, 12 April 2004 — Rania Al-Baz, an announcer with Saudi Television’s Channel 1 who is recovering after suffering a brutal attack at the hands of her husband, lashed out at the abuse of women from her hospital bed here yesterday.

“I want to use what happened to me to draw attention to the plight of abused women in Saudi Arabia,” she told Arab News shortly after surgery to repair one of 13 fractures to her face.

Police are currently looking for her husband, Muhammad Bakar Yunus Al-Fallatta, an out-of-work singer, who is facing charges of attempted murder.

According to Rania’s mother, Al-Fallatta was angered that his wife answered the telephone and proceeded to beat her. “Rania told me that when he saw her on the telephone he looked angry and was coming to hit her like he had done so many times before,” she told Arab News. “She begged him not to hit her. His reply was: ‘Hit you? I’m not going to hit you, I am going to kill you.’

“What I came to understand from Rania and the maid who saw the whole thing, is that Al-Fallatta knocked Rania down to her knees, then sat on her thighs so that her legs were bent behind her. He then began choking her while punching her in the face, nose, eyes and mouth.

“He then grabbed a handful of her hair and started banging her head on the floor. When she got up to run, he grabbed her from behind and began smashing her face on the wall until she lost consciousness,” said Rania’s mother.

“He left her unconscious for a couple of hours while he showered and changed then bundled her up in a sheet and put her in the family van. When my daughter regained consciousness, she found herself in the van and thought he was taking her to Obhur to bury her. When he heard her moaning and trying to speak, he must have panicked because he pulled into Bugshan Hospital,” added Rania’s mother.

According to security at Bugshan Hospital, Al-Fallatta drove in at 2:30 in the morning. He dumped the injured Rania at the emergency room entrance telling nurses and staff that she was the victim of a car accident and was dead. He then left quickly saying he was going to bring other victims of the accident.

Al-Fallatta has not been seen since.

Police are looking for Al-Fallatta, who drives a gray Chevrolet van.

This has not been Al-Fallatta’s first run-in with the authorities. He is currently under investigation for the kidnapping of his sister Hannan from Beirut.

Hannan, known as Waad, is a Saudi singer, well-known in Lebanon. According to Rania’s father, “two years ago, Waad was in Cairo with her brother to watch the taping of an interview on Orbit. Al-Fallatta showed up with another brother, both dressed like women, and entered the studio for the taping. The brother then fired his gun at the stage before disappearing. Some time later, Hannan was drugged and kidnapped and smuggled back into Saudi Arabia.”