ABHA, 10 May 2004 — Three children, abused, abandoned and without identification papers have been discovered in the southern city of Abha.
According to Al-Watan Arabic newspaper, the story began when a Saudi man took a non-Saudi wife but failed to register the marriage with the Interior Ministry. After three children were born, the man became successful in business and abandoned his family, divorcing the first wife and marrying a Saudi. The children were thrown at the mercy of the father and stepmother when their mother died.
In their new home, they were systematically abused by their caregivers. The father is reported to have offered the children to anyone who might want them while their lack of identity papers denied them the right to an education. The children, now aged 15, 13, and 11, are totally illiterate.
They claim that their stepmother feeds them leftovers and refuses to allow them to eat with her or to even enter the kitchen. They said bread and tea was sometimes their only sustenance. They sleep outside the house on the stairs at night, and can only use the outside toilet, the daily reported, adding that neighbors sometimes help the children with clothes or other small requirements.
Al-Watan confirmed that the eldest child, a girl, showed signs of physical abuse, including marks and bruises. She looked weak and wore old clothing, the newspaper reported.
