Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH – A man said his sister suffered from domestic violence for four years at the hands of her stepbrothers. The woman had been beaten up and burned several times before her sibling succeeded in freeing her from a deserted house where she was being kept prisoner and helping her run away. He said his sister, her husband and children were attacked by the stepbrothers, who broke into her house four years ago and beat the husband and children in front of her before kidnapping her. They left her husband bleeding while her children were crying. “The stepbrothers hated our mother because she was not Arab and that is why they attacked my sister,” the brother said. “They handcuffed her and took her to the desert and confined her to a house in a remote area. This had continued for four years during which my sister suffered greatly and was deprived of her rights to see her children. Every time she tried to run away or call for help, her stepbrothers would beat her up.” Although the brother reported the kidnapping incident to the police three days after the attack, authorities in Wadi Al-Dawasir governorate could not locate his sister. Recently he found out through some people the whereabouts of his sister. He found her inside an apartment in a miserable condition. He freed her from her handcuffs and went straight to the police. Some of the stepbrothers were arrested. The battered sister told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that she is now protected by police. A source in the National Society for Human Rights said the society has been following up this case since 2008. The source added that the stepbrothers wanted their sister to file a divorce case against her husband. “When her father died, things got worse and the stepbrothers kidnapped their sister and took her to a remote place. The society contacted the authorities but nothing had been done,” the source noted. The source said the society is working hard to unite the sister with her children and ensure her all her legal rights.
