Adnan Al-Shabrawi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The District Court in Jeddah sentenced a 19-year-old youth to jail for allegedly beating his father, kicking him in the abdomen and handcuffing him. The father, 59, told the judge that his son was acting on the orders of his mother whom he divorced a year and a half ago. The father, who broke into tears when telling the judge how his son abused him, said his ex-wife was responsible for the boy's actions as she did not want to move out of her ex-husband's apartment. The son admitted to the abuse and told the judge he was only defending his mother. The judge asked the officers to handcuff the son and take him to jail and referred the case to the family disputes resolution committee. At this point, the father told the judge that he was ready to forgive his son provided that his ex-wife and the boy move out of the apartment and even offered to help them financially. While ordering the mother to appear in court next week, the judge urged both father and son to find an amicable solution. Last year, the court looked into 343 similar cases involving sons mistreating one of their parents. This year, the court has so far reviewed 200 such cases but has not handed down verdicts in any of them. According to court records, 95 percent of mothers who file complaints against their sons retract the complaints and drop the cases once the judge issues a prison sentence. In its earlier statistics report, the Ministry of Justice said Jeddah has the largest number of disobedience cases, 1,074, filed by parents against their sons. Riyadh came second with 244, Makkah third with 177 cases and Madinah fourth with 60. Lawyer Khalid Al-Suraihi said disobedience cases are considered criminal and sons regularly get arrested and jailed for mistreating their parents.
