JEDDAH, 31 July 2006 — A two-year-old boy spent three days at home hungry without food, sitting and crying next to the body of his father who had died of a heart attack.
Col. Duheem Al-Shibani of the Al-Safa police station in Jeddah told Al-Madinah newspaper that neighbors telephoned the police to say that there was a bad smell coming from an apartment next door.
“When the police and the fire department forced their way into the apartment they found the body of the man with the two-year-old next to him crying hysterically. The child had been crying all day long next to his father’s body,” said Col. Al-Shibani.
The boy is said to be suffering from exhaustion and was taken to the Al-Musadia hospital for treatment. According to police, there was no one at home when the father died and the man lived by himself with the two-year-old boy. The child’s mother had left for her parents’ home following a fight with her husband earlier.
According to doctors, the man had died of a heart attack at least three to four days ago. Police searched the apartment and found insulin and papers that indicated that the man was diabetic.
Police officers notified the mother about the death of her husband and told her that her son was in hospital. Hospital staff said the boy is recovering after having suffered an extreme bout of exhaustion.
