A court in Riyadh has sentenced a Syrian resident and his second wife to 15 years in prison and 1,500 lashes for the death of his son following torture and violence, local media said.

The case dates back to 2012 when the police arrested the boy’s father, Omar Jibawi, and his second wife, Rola Abu Shahloub, following a postmortem report of the child which indicated signs of torture and violence with multiple bruises and abrasions on the neck, face, shoulder, chest, thighs, and feet, Al-Hayat daily said.

According to the report, the injuries, their patterns and distribution on all parts of the body, the severity and varying times of occurrence clearly indicated that the child was exposed to extreme violence and maltreatment. However, the actual cause of death was attributed to severe bruises on his head.

The defendants denied the allegations and the accused wife said that investigators had forced her to sign on the minutes of the investigation without giving her a chance to read them.