JEDDAH: Layla, a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly physically abused by her father, is still in King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital in Taif where she is unconscious after suffering multiple injuries and acute renal complications.
The official spokesman for the Health Department in Taif, Siraj Al-Humaidan, said Layla’s kidneys are not functioning and she is under observation. “Her condition is critical ever since she was checked in by her father on Oct. 9,” he told Arab News.
“All we know for now is that her parents are divorced and her mother lives in Egypt. Also, it is said that she asked her father to go and live with her mother over there. Apparently, he refused and started physically abusing her,” he added.
Al-Humaidan also talked about Layla’s medical condition. “She came to the hospital suffering from high acidity in the blood, a sharp drop in hemoglobin levels, blood poisoning, kidney failure and scarcity of urine,” he said.
“She had been tortured for one month. Her wounds were left uncleaned for a long time, which caused infections and rotting. She was suffering from gangrene in her legs but after a few surgical procedures her legs were saved,” he said.
The hospital does not know what forms of abuse were inflicted on the young girl. Al-Humaidan said the hospital is only concerned with Layla’s medical condition. The father is in police custody and is still being questioned.
Maj. Turki Al-Shehri, the official spokesman for Taif police, said that they were still investigating the case. “The father confessed that he is the one responsible for his daughter’s injuries,” Al-Shehri told Arab News.
