MADINAH, 18 February 2007 — The legal representative of the mother of Lina (the nine-year-old Saudi girl whose divorced father took her from her mother in Madinah to live with one of his wives in Jakarta) has hit back at allegations made by the father that Lina is happy where she is.
Muhammad Al-Taib Al-Shareef contradicted what Lina’s father, Yaseen Saleh Usailan, recently said that his daughter was happy living with his second wife in Indonesia. Talking to Al-Madinah newspaper, Al-Shareef also alleged that Usailan had planned Lina’s kidnap meticulously.
Usailan had married Lina’s mother, who lives in Madinah, but the marriage ended in divorce after Lina’s mother refused Usailan’s calls for her to stop looking after her other children from previous marriage.
Al-Shareef said that he initially consulted Usailan to solve the issue out of court. “We are cousins and have known each other for 35 years,” said Al-Shareef, adding that Usailan showed no interest in cooperating and said that the issue could only be resolved in court.
“Unfortunately, the victim is Lina; she is the one who is suffering,” said Al-Shareef. “I consulted Usailan’s brother to convince him. Twenty-four hours later he contacted me and said that Usailan was unwilling to cooperate.”
He also added that Usailan has planned to kidnap Lina in advance. “This can be supported by the fact that Usailan took Lina from her mother and sent her to Jakarta. Why didn’t he keep Lina with his third wife here in Madinah? Why send her to Jakarta? Lina has been in Jakarta for eight months now. Has he visited her? Is it enough that he merely telephones her?” said Al-Shareef.
The legal representative added that Lina’s mother did not like the fact that her daughter’s case was being publicized in national newspapers. Instead, she prefers an open debate on television once her daughter returns to the Kingdom. She also added that she wants Lina to be examined by a social worker to see what the effect of living in Jakarta has had on her.
“Whenever there is a court hearing her ex-husband fails to attend,” said Al-Shareef. “He has also failed to pay Lina’s mother her marriage dowry of SR15,000. On the contrary she ended up paying him SR7,000 in installments to secure a divorce,” he added.
The legal consultant said that Lina’s mother has lodged a complaint against Usailan accusing him of stealing her bag containing SR9,000, a shack and a cell phone. She has also lodged a second complaint demanding that Usailan pay Lina’s child-rearing expenses.
Lina’s mother hopes the authorities will help bring Lina back to the Kingdom and reunite both mother and daughter.
