DAMMAM — A Saudi scholar convicted of killing his five-year-old daughter after severely abusing her will be released from prison imminently after serving three years for his crime, Dammam-based Alsharq reported on Sunday. The unidentified father physically abused his daughter Lama Al-Ghamdi so badly that she was in a coma in hospital for four months before she died. The incident, which attracted much attention, took place in Hotat Bani Tamim near Riyadh in November 2012. In its preliminary ruling, a court sentenced the father to eight years' imprisonment and 800 lashes. After many appeals by his lawyers, the term was reduced to four years and finally three. Lama's stepmother was given 10 months in prison after she was convicted of helping cover up the crime. The father's lawyer, Ibrahim Al-Hakami, said the Bureau of Investigations and Public Persecution (BIP) asked for the scholar to be executed. The lawyer said he proved to the court there was not enough incriminating evidence against the father so he was given imprisonment. “The father has served his term and will be released from prison very soon,” he added. Al-Hakami said the father is planning to sue some media organizations that accused him of raping his daughter before killing her. He said his client had assigned another lawyer to do this. When she was brought to the hospital, Lama was suffering from skull fractures and various burns, even on her private parts. She remained in a coma in Al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh for four months until her death. Her body was kept in the morgue for four more months before her burial pending an autopsy. According to court sources, Lama's mother, an expatriate, relinquished her personal right of SR1 million blood money to be paid by her ex-husband, who divorced her while she was pregnant. The unidentified woman had entered the Kingdom already married to a Saudi man, with whom she had three children. He divorced her and she later married Lama's father. She said she was given custody over her daughter and the father was given visitation rights. The mother said Lama's father used to visit her regularly but did not return her the last time he took her out. The hospital later called to tell her that her daughter was in a bad condition as a result of a severe beating.
