MADINAH, 15 February 2007 — New details have surfaced about a nine-year-old Saudi girl Lina whose father had taken her from her mother in Madinah to live with his second wife in Jakarta.
Lina’s mother had claimed that her husband had kidnapped her daughter. However, Yaseen Saleh Usailan, who himself lives in the Kingdom, refuted such claims. “I didn’t kidnap my daughter. I took her eight months ago from her mother. At that time we were still married and I told her that I was taking my daughter because she was too busy to take care of her,” said Usailan.
He added, “She works during the day, and at night she manages her beauty center; my daughter was spending her time with her siblings from her mother’s side. I believe that it is my right to worry about my daughter and it is my duty to protect her.”
Now that Lina is in Jakarta, Usailan said that he provides her with whatever she needs and sends his second wife money to look after her and Usailan’s other daughter, Al-Jawhara, from his second wife.
Usailan said that what his ex-wife has claimed is untrue and believes she only said what she said to elicit sympathy for herself.
“What the legal representative of my ex-wife said is not true. The aim was to show me as a careless and irresponsible husband and father. This is nonsense. I’ve renovated our home in Jakarta and I’ve even bought new furniture. I retired 15 years ago and go to Jakarta five times a year, I get my treatment there. I go for trading and tourism too. I wouldn’t allow my daughters to live a bad life. I ensure that they receive good education,” he said.
Usailan said that from a legal point of view his ex-wife does not have custody of Lina since she is nine years old and therefore in the custody of the father. He added that when he was married to Lina’s mother, he had asked her to come and live with him and not keep her children from her previous marriage with her.
According to the father, Lina’s mother refused to do so and so the couple divorced after she had paid him SR7,000. Usailan further said that his daughter is extremely happy in Jakarta and does not want to return to Madinah.
