The Asir governorate has ordered an investigation into the complaints of the three women, Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the eldest of the three sisters who is 29-year-old their sufferings began in Riyadh, when their parents separated. She was then four years old.

“Our new stepmother used to beat me until bled profusely, while our father looked on. My younger sister had her legs tied with a rope and hanged head down from the ceiling. Our youngest sister was one year old when she was locked up in a room infested with mice. Often we were put in chains,” she said.

After the father divorced his second wife, they moved to Ahad Rafidah in Asir province.

The second of the three sisters suffers from epilepsy and severe mental depression. Last month, her condition deteriorated until she could not eat or talk. “Our father, who never allowed us to visit a hospital before, took her to a private clinic. There, the doctors said her condition was critical and directed him to a large hospital,” said the eldest sister.  He brought his ailing daughter to Asir Central Hospital and took her sisters along.

Director of public relations at the Health Department in Asir, Saeed Al-Nogair, said the hospitals in the region have received a number of family abuse cases. “The departments of social affairs and family protection should take steps to help such victims. The hospital is not a shelter,” he said.

As the sisters were afraid their father would kill them, the hospital authorities permitted them to stay for a few days. The women have not met their mother for 19 years. They were not allowed any contact. Their only brother could not offer any help, as he was scared of their father. “Our only hope is to find shelter in an orphanage,” said the woman.