year-old Saudi female victim of domestic abuse, Aisha Al-Qahtani, who was being sheltered at Abha Social Welfare Center attempted suicide by swallowing a large number of antibiotic and weight-loss pills due to alleged poor treatment at the welfare center. Aisha was admitted to the social care center at the behest of Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, Emir of Asir region, after she and her sisters faced abuse for over 19 years. Before starting to live in the welfare center, Aisha was treated for 41 days at a local hospital. However, she says the welfare center's director was mistreating her and forcing her to go back to her abusive father, despite Aisha clearly mentioning her wish to go and live with her mother. A sobbing Zahia Al-Shibli, Aisha's mother, said her daughter asked the director last Friday to allow her and her sisters to live with their mother. The director refused and said they would go straight to the father's house when they would leave the center. “Aisha was frustrated with these words so she decided to take her own life and end the misery of being away from me,” Al-Shibli said. The Ministry of Social Affairs has refused to allow the daughters to live with their mother because the father did not permit it. The welfare center's director also prevented the mother for similar reasons. “Who on earth gives the center director the right to prevent a mother from visiting her daughters?” Al-Shibli said she was eventually allowed to see her daughters during the spring break. She would stay with her daughters all day long at the welfare center. “Can you imagine how daughters feel who have been deprived of the right to see their mother for 20 years? I live in Dammam and I'm not married. Why don't they let my girls come and live with me? Why? Why?” The source pointed out that Aisha is the second suicide case from the center treated at the hospital this year. Aisha says her father prevented her and her sisters from studying and getting married. He has also been physically and verbally abusive over the past 19 years. A hospital source said she is in a stable condition thanks to the medical team that was able to save her life. Al-Shibli said she is trying to organize a trip to see her daughter in the hospital. Saeed Al-Naqeer, Asir Health Affairs spokesman, confirmed that Al-Qahtani was admitted to the emergency unit of Asir Central Hospital by police after she swallowed several pills. Doctors saved her life and referred her to Abha Mental Health Hospital for further treatment. Welfare centers have been accused of poor treatment of female victims of domestic violence. The National Society for Human Rights has also been dealing with a number of complaints from female victims against various centers.
