JEDDAH, 31 January 2007 — Schoolteachers in Buraidah, about 300 km northwest of Riyadh, intervened on behalf of a nine-year-old student after they noticed signs of abuse, including bruises and an unkempt appearance.
“The girl is now in the children’s shelter home supervised by the Ministry of Social Affairs,” said Fahd Al-Mutlaq, president of Qasim’s Social Security Committee that is administered by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The girl is being taken to and from school by staff at the shelter.
The father of the child is being treated in a mental institution, said Al-Mutlaq. The mother has a second child, a girl about two years younger, but Al-Mutlaq says she is being treated humanely by the mother and has, therefore, not been taken into state custody.
“There is no danger to the younger girl,” he said. “The mother was only abusing her older daughter.”
The committee is looking into the motive of the abuse.
Al-Mutlaq said most of the cases of reported domestic abuse in Buraidah involve husbands beating their wives.
“Among the cases are also fathers depriving their daughters from getting married,” he added.
Investigations in domestic abuse cases might only involve the Ministry of Social Affairs while others will include the participation of the Health Ministry and public prosecutors, said Al-Mutlaq.
The Qasim Region Social Security Committee reported 47 domestic violence cases in the region, which has Buraidah as its main urban area. The committee said most of these cases were resolved with the families being reunited.
Investigations are still under way in the abuse case of the nine-year-old girl whose name was withheld because she is a minor.
