ABHA — The mother of an eight-year-old child has asked for custody of her son and for protection from his father who has allegedly been abusing him. Um Ibrahim said she was married nine years ago but did not feel safe with her husband. After three months, she moved to her family's house, and discovered that she was pregnant. She waited seven years for a divorce during which she did not receive any alimony or identification documents. After many court hearings, her husband agreed to divorce her, on the condition that she relinquished her rights to alimony and custody of the child. The woman claimed that she had no choice but to accept the conditions and handed her son over to his father. She claimed that her son was not comfortable with his father and she was allowed to see him after two months. She remarried and went to live in Riyadh. She went to the southern province to visit her son, but her ex-husband refused to see her and claimed that he was in Makkah. One day her son left school for the day and some people took him to her father, who noticed bruises on the boy's body and notified the police. However, the grandfather was accused of kidnapping the child who was admitted to hospital, where the bruises were confirmed. She claimed that her son was threatened with violence by his father if he spoke about how he got the bruises. She is asking for custody of her son to be given to her mother or to her, especially as her new husband was willing to accept and look after him. The distraught mother is asking the authorities and human rights organizations to investigate the matter and punish those responsible for harming her son. Spokesman for Asir Health Affairs Saeed Al-Neqair said the child is in Khamis Mushayt Hospital suffering from bruises but is in good health. He said the concerned authorities were notified about the case.
