JEDDAH, 11 December 2004 — A young Saudi woman kidnapped her son from her former husband after beating him up with the help of her new husband, press reports said. The man was hospitalized following the attack in Ramadan but has since made a full recovery.
“I am worried about my kidnapped son. I don’t know anything about his whereabouts,” the 75-year-old man told Al-Madinah daily.
“One day in Ramadan I opened the door when someone knocked. I was surprised to see my former wife with her husband at my door. They took away by son by force after beating me up,” the man said without identifying himself.
He said he spent five days in intensive care as the attackers had battered him before fleeing with the child. The paper said a court had granted the man custody of the child. He had two children including a girl by the former wife.
The man lodged a complaint at the police station in the Jamia district. Police have so far failed to find either the culprits or the child, he said and called upon the public to inform security authorities if they come across the boy who has missed school since the incident.
Relatives had advised the man not to take a chance when he planned to marry the young Arab woman about 11 years ago, but he did not listen to them. During their marriage, the woman received Saudi citizenship. Recurrent quarrels between the two ended up in divorce, the paper said.
