MAKKAH, 25 April 2006 — Two schoolgirls from a broken home have been subjected to systematic torture by their stepmother, according to a report by the mental health department of the King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Makkah.
The National Society for Human Rights, which is currently examining the complaint received from the girls’ biological mother, has set up a medical committee to examine the two girls who are aged seven and 11 and prepare a report.
The society has asked that the girls be transferred to Al-Zahir Hospital for further treatment. Doctors have recommended that they be permitted to stay with their mother who is divorced from their father.
The girls used to stay with their mother on school and working days. During holidays, they were expected to stay at their father’s house with their stepmother who allegedly mistreated them. The girls’ mother complained to the authorities that her daughters were being subjected to both physical as well as mental torture.
Dr. Rajab Bariesali, director of mental health at Al-Zahir Hospital said: “We have tried to contact their father but he refuses to cooperate. Then we sent a medical report to the human rights society indicating that the girls were unable to concentrate on their studies as a result of physical injuries.”
According to the medical report, the girls expressed their wish to commit suicide. The mental health department also recommended that the girls be left in the custody of their mother in accordance with their wishes.
This report comes a week after the murder of Ghosun, another young girl from Makkah, who suffered physical abuse by her father and stepmother for an entire year. Ghosun’s father and stepmother, who are now in detention, have confessed to their crime in a court in Makkah.
Ghosun’s mother and her family blame the police, the social service department and the National Society for Human Rights for not acting during the past year despite efforts to involve them.
