3 children rescued from mom’s torture chamber
MADINAH: The sustained torture of three offspring by their own mother in the Khaibar province of Madinah region will wrack the nerves of even step-moms. The sordid saga continued for three years in front of the children’s wheelchair-bound, helpless father.
The victims — two girls and a boy — were confined to their home, starved and regularly beaten by the woman, who is a naturalized mother.
The physically and psychologically traumatized children, the eldest of whom is a 20-year-old daughter, have been moved to social care centers in Madinah. The boy is in need of urgent medical attention due to his poor health condition.
Khalid Aba Al-Khail, official spokesman for the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, said the ministry, in coordination with relevant authorities in Khaibar, shifted the case to Madinah for investigation.
Initial investigations established that the mother was helped by two older stepbrothers, who were arrested but later released on bail. The mother was found unfit to take care of her children and is being prosecuted, said Al-Khail.
An uncle of the children said their mother got Saudi nationality after getting married. “She betrayed her maternal instincts and subjected her children to harshest violence, prevented them from having food many times, beaten and tortured them, all in front of their father who has been confined to a wheelchair after having lost his legs to gangrene.”
The bad treatment of the children, he said, was due to financial issues.
The younger daughter had allegedly complained about family violence two years ago, but no one took action.
It was only when the tortured son appeared in a video clip that went viral on social media, showing him being tortured and his psychological troubles that action was taken.
He claimed he had contacted the Ministry of Labor and Social Development some time ago. They had informed him that they would send an employee to check the situation, but nobody contacted him.
The uncle said the mother has to be held accountable for the harm she inflicted on his nephew and nieces.
The uncle said the woman’s nationality should be withdrawn and that the family was planning to file a complaint at the higher level against her.