year-old girl Kulthoum, who was allegedly beaten and tortured to death by her father and stepmother Thursday, has said that she had difficulty recognizing her own daughter when visiting her for the last time at the morgue. “The abuse she suffered had totally distorted the features of her face,” Fatima Kamal Al-Deen said in her first interview following the death of her daughter. Fatima was not permitted to view the rest of her daughter's body due to ongoing medical investigations. Fatima, who married her husband ten years ago and lived with him for eight of them, was divorced eight months ago after he married another woman, Layla, who is also accused of torturing and abusing Kulthoum. Fatima has decided not to pursue a personal case against her ex-husband. “His utter lack of humanity makes him not worth my time and effort,” she said. “He has no mercy or compassion in his heart.” Fatima had two children by her ex-husband, and authorities are now investigating his and his wife's connection with the premature death of the first, Uhoud, who was two years old at the time of her passing six months ago. “Uhoud had asthma and required constant care and attention,” Fatima said. “But her father refused to let her, or Kulthoum, live with me.” “After the divorce I went to live with my family in Taif, and two months later my ex-husband telephoned me to say Uhoud had died and been buried. Then six months later he told me Kulthoum had died,” Fatima said. “When I asked him how she'd died, he said she had developed a high temperature and then passed away. Then the same day I received a telephone call from the police asking me to come to the station and make a statement concerning her death.” “When I was told she had been beaten and tortured, I began to remember the last time I'd seen Kulthoum three months ago,” Fatima said. “She said she was in pain all over her body, but she was too scared to tell me why. She also had a broken wrist.” According to the police, who were continuing their investigations on Sunday, the father stated that Kulthoum asked to see her mother the day before she died. He claims to have had no knowledge of his wife beating and torturing his daughter while he was away at work. His wife, Layla, however, has reportedly admitted to beating the child but that she did not expect her actions to lead to the girl's death. The final medical report on the causes of Kulthoum's death is expected to be out on Tuesday.
