Ayman Al-Saydalani Okaz/Saudi Gazette MADINAH — The District Court here has sentenced Adel's father, a Yemeni research scholar at Madinah's Islamic University who tortured his nine-year-old son and was arrested last month, to a three-month jail. Adel's mother and uncle expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict calling it too lenient. Adel's maternal uncle told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the father used various means of torture against his son, Adel. The court should have handed down a stricter prison sentence against the father for what he did to his son. The uncle said this case cost him a lot of money and he had to sell his business in the United States so that he could come to the Kingdom and follow up with the case. “The case cost me $40,000. I can't understand how a father could torture his son.” Sultan Al-Zahim, a lawyer, said the family of the battered child can apply to the Court of Appeals and demand a stricter sentence. Their demand should be supported by a medical report showing that the injuries inflicted by the father on his son were severe and could have killed Adel. “If they prove that the father had the intention to kill his son, the father could spend years in prison and lose child custody.” Adel's mother can apply to the court for custody of her child and request the court to not allow the father to visit his son because it is clear that the father is dangerous to the son,” Al-Zahim said.
