MAKKAH: A young woman here has accused a social shelter of various forms of abuse, including sending her to prison for one year and preventing her from studying.

According to a report in a local publication on Monday, the woman claimed that she had initially gone to the shelter to escape from an allegedly abusive brother. She claimed her brother had pledged not to hurt her again, but did so again when she returned home.

She said she ran to a neighbor’s house to escape from her brother’s abuse, but was later arrested because her brother had reported that she had run away without reason.

The home where she was previously refused to take her in, which resulted in her being imprisoned. She claimed that she was unable to complete her studies at a local university, where she had passed the first semester with honors. She was later released after a judge found that she had not run away from her home, and ordered that the home provide her shelter. She has now filed a complaint against the director of the home with the police.

She said the time in prison has also cost her financially, with the university now demanding SR8,400 for the money it paid for her studies at the beginning of the year. She would not be liable to pay if she brings proof that she was locked away, she said.

The woman denied that she was suffering from psychological problems and that she had attacked fellow patients at Taif Mental Hospital. She filed a complaint with Makkah governorate about the claims, and said that she has signed statements from witnesses to prove her innocence.

However, Abdullah Al-Tawi, an official from the Ministry of Social Affairs in Makkah, insisted that the woman has mental problems and that she had assaulted her roommate at the city’s shelter.

In a statement, Al-Tawi said that the National Human Rights Commission in Makkah had conducted an investigation and had her examined by a medical team. The report issued confirms that she has psychological problems, he stated.