JEDDAH, 27 November 2005 — Six-year-old Rahaf was discharged from King Faisal Hospital on Friday. She spent six days there as a result of being severely beaten and abused by her stepmother. By her own choice, the girl left the hospital with her father’s uncle with whom she had been living before her father married her stepmother and she moved in with them.
Al-Jowhara Al-Angari, head of the Family and Child Cases Committee, who visited the hospital last Wednesday, spoke to Rahaf’s father. He defended his wife, saying that she beat Rahaf because the child wet the bed and needed to be punished for doing so.
Rahaf’s father alleged that her mother is Egyptian and lives in another area of the Kingdom. Arab News contacted a source at the King Faisal Hospital, who, however, said that Rahaf’s mother is a married Saudi woman. She came to the hospital to visit her daughter on Friday and when her former husband saw her, he attacked her and began beating and slapping her. “We immediately called the police who came and removed both the father and the mother.”
Because Rahaf’s father has not complained, it is possible no charges will be filed. According to Capt. Turki Al-Shihri of Taif police, “If the girl has totally recovered in less than 21 days, which is the expected period for recovery, starting from the first day she entered the hospital, the case will be dropped and there will be no punishment. On the other hand, if, after 21 days, the girl has not recovered, punishment will be given to everyone involved in the girl’s suffering.”
During her visit to the hospital, Al-Angari uncovered another child abuse case. A 12-year-old girl, Ahlam, was brought to the hospital by her maternal aunts after she ran away from her father’s house. The girl’s body was scarred with bruises and burn marks. Her father beat her because, he claimed, she was rebellious and broke the rules.
Al-Angari said, “I visited Ahlam’s room and checked her body. The bruises looked fresh though the burn marks were old.” Ahlam’s parents are divorced, and both her father and mother have remarried. She lives with her father and has half-brothers and sisters.
According to Al-Angari, Ahlam ran away after noticing the difference in her life and that of her half-brothers and sisters living in the same house. “It is normal for her at that age to be rebellious and to reject the special treatment her siblings received, especially since her father did not allow her to see her mother who has remarried and lives in another area,” Al-Angari said.
The National Society for Human Rights will send reports on both cases to the Ministry of Social Affairs to study them and select places for the children to live in the future.
