Mom, boyfriend deny murder intent in five-year-old’s death

Child subjected to two months of repeated abuse

KUWAIT: A five-year-old girl who died in a child abuse case reported earlier this week was subjected to abuse for 60 days before her eventual death, according to police findings. Meanwhile, reports emerged yesterday indicating that the child’s mother and her boyfriend said during questioning that the girl was of special needs, adding yet another dark twist to the crime that shook Kuwait. The public prosecutor gave orders in the meantime to remand the couple in custody, as they are accused of the girl’s murder in the Qusoor district of Jahra on Sunday.

The mother had called police and claimed that her daughter was motionless after she fell from a high place. But detectives found bruises and burns on the girl’s body; which was recovered by the coroner. Detectives held the mother under interrogation, during which she eventually explained that on the night of the crime, she and her daughter were with her boyfriend in a rented car when the man proceeded to hit the girl until she was knocked unconscious.

The woman then took her daughter back to her car, and called police, who came over and discovered that the child was dead. Her boyfriend confessed during interrogation of beating the girl, saying that both him and the girl’s mother used to beat the child repeatedly ‘when she refused to shut up.’The man denied murder intent.

Human trafficking

Criminal detectives closed a case involving an African woman fell victim of human trafficking, forced labor and forced prostitution in Kuwait. According to investigations, the woman, 22, paid $2,500 to people in her country who promised that they can help her come to Kuwait to finish her higher education. When she arrived in Kuwait, a man took her to his house where she was forced to work as a domestic helper. She spent a number of days at the house - during which she was subjected to attempted rape by the homeowner, according to her statements - before she was taken by another employer; an African man who took her to an apartment. The woman then refused to work, at which point her new employer told her that he ‘bought’ her for KD 20 so that she could work for him as a prostitute. Faced with this reality, the woman was able to escape and seek help at her country’s embassy. A complaint was lodged with local police, and investigations revealed that a Gulf national had paid KD 400 to a man who ran an unlicensed domestic help office; and who coordinated with the person who recruited the girl from her home country in order to bring her to Kuwait. Detectives were able to arrest the African national who confessed to taking the girl to his Fahaheel apartment, and asked for $2,000 to return her passport.

Child molester caught

An Egyptian man was arrested in Farwaniya for molesting children. His arrest came after he was identified as the prime suspect in multiple child harassment cases reported recently in several Farwaniya police stations. The man confessed to the charges and was sent to the relevant authorities for questioning.

False reports

Social media reports speculating that the government plans to monitor social networks in Kuwait are not true, informed sources said. Rumors went viral on social media recently about a government plan to tap phone calls, as well as calls and texts made over WhatsApp, Viber, Twitter and Facebook. “Such recurring rumors are completely false,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, adding that the law protects the privacy of calls and conversations made over all social media applications, and further indicating that the government respects people’s privacy in that respect.

Suicide

A 33-year-old Indian man hanged himself in a room located on top of the roof of a Khaitan building. Forensic men were called in to collect the body and take it to the coroner. A suicide investigation was opened based on the initial probe’s findings.

Nothing suspicious

Explosives experts dealt with a bag that was found near Riqqa medical center. A citizen had called police to inform them about the bag, and explosives exports were called who did not find anything suspicious about the suitcase.