Police here on Tuesday intervened to save a mother and her sons from a beating by the Arab father. The imam of King Faisal District's Mosque, east of the city, said he was woken up by the screams of the mother and her children, who live in a residential building. The father allegedly beat his five sons, aged between 3 to 13, until they bled. The Arab man works as a translator for a satellite channel. Imam Saud Al-Qahtani said the neighborhood residents tried many times to save the family from the father's torture through a neighborhood committee they had formed. He said the committee received a call from a women's school near the mosque where the mother had turned up after the husband hit her and threw her out. The teacher who called said the woman had injuries to her head and body. She said she wanted to go to the Human Rights Society. The imam said the woman also asked police patrols to get her children from the house but they refused. After this, he added, he went personally to the police station to report the incident but officers said that the woman should come herself to the station. When the committee brought the woman, the officer told her that she needed to go to a court. Al-Qahtani said the woman then went to her neighbor's house and the committee then decided to talk to the husband. He refused to open the door and cursed and insulted them. “It's none of your business. Let the police come,” the father told the committee members. At that point, the imam said, the committee went to the same officer again and explained the matter. The officer sent a patrol with them that took the father and his five children to the police station. They were then released. The next morning they all went back to the station and were interrogated. The woman and her sons were referred to the hospital where the older brother was found to have a fracture to his hand. The other boys had other injuries. Meanwhile, the committee members have raised a sum of money for the woman and her sons and had their house repaired.
