ABHA: A nine-year-old girl whose father claims she is illegitimate is planning to appeal to the Supreme Judicial Council to reopen her case to establish she is his child using DNA testing.

As an alleged illegitimate child, the girl — who is called Fatimah and is from Al-Dhahran Al-Janoub in southern Asir province — has, besides attracting social stigma, been unable to enroll in school or enjoy the privileges of a normal Saudi citizen.

The girl’s father, who is divorced from her mother, claims she is not his child. Her mother, on the other hand, says he is the father and that he divorced her when she was two months pregnant.

A court in Al-Dhahran Al-Janoub ruled in June 1999 that the man was not Fatimah’s biological father upholding the claim that she is illegitimate.

The man claimed that he divorced his wife in front of his neighbors. Since he could not produce any evidence to prove his wife’s infidelity, he resorted to “Lian,” a Shariah method in which the husband or wife swear that their spouse has committed adultery with the other rebutting the claim. In the case of Fatimah’s mother, the judge accepted the oath and ruled in favor of the man.

A relative of Fatimah, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the judge visited him afterward and requested him to forgive him for ruling against the woman.

On an earlier occasion, the woman had sued her husband claiming he used to abuse her and that he had broken her jaw, as a result of which she was admitted to hospital for treatment.

Convinced of the woman’s claims, a court had ordered the man to permit his wife to live close to her relatives instead of living in Najran where he worked. The man also used to brag that he was above the law because of his official position and that he could not be penalized.

Human rights lawyer Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem said the girl’s parenthood could be established with the help of modern scientific methods if the Supreme Judicial Council would permit the case to be reopened.

The relatives of the girl also complained that the Human Rights Commission did not respond to the cable they had sent seeking help.