JEDDAH, 30 May 2004 — A three-year-old boy who fell into a coma two months ago after being severely beaten by his father is now conscious and in stable condition.
According to Rasheed Al-Jihani, the administrative director of King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, the boy was brought to the hospital by his 20-year-old sister on April 5.
The woman had also taken her half-brother to hospital on all previous occasions when the father’s abuse caused injuries to the boy and has been the main source of information on the father’s abusive behavior.
Almost a year ago the boy was taken to the Maternity and Children’s Hospital suffering from concussion after being dropped from the top floor of the house. The father checked him out, as he is frequently said to have done, against medical advice.
The hospital filed a report with the Social Affairs Administration and with the police requesting an investigation, but nothing was done.
When the boy was admitted to the University Hospital, he “was diagnosed with mental paralysis and as quadriplegic,” Al-Jihani said. He is considered stable, but that does not mean he has recovered.
The University Hospital filed another case with the police and is waiting for instructions on what to do. The boy occupies a bed but there is nothing further the hospital can do besides follow up treatment and physical therapy.
“We were told by the police not to hand him over to his father until the investigation is complete,” Al-Jihani said.
The father has divorced the mother, a non-Saudi who has returned to her home country.
He has had three other wives, all non-Saudi, and has five children by them, three daughters and two sons. This boy is the youngest and for some reason has been bearing the brunt of the father’s abuse.
“No one has been asking about the boy’s condition except his sister, and no relative has come forward to take care of him,” Al-Jihani said.
The hospital cannot hand the child over to anyone except his legal guardian, the father. Once the investigation concludes, a judge will determine whether the boy is turned over to a Social Affairs home care facility or to a relative.
