By Hala Al-Qahtani
Al-Watan
WE cannot say whether last week was the most sorrowful one or the week before it because we often wake up in the morning hearing frightening news. Despite many awareness campaigns as well as rules and laws, family violence cases are on the increase in our country.
Unfortunately it has taken the worst forms from beating and torture to murder and slaughter, necessitating tougher laws and punishment to save children, mothers, wives and sisters.
Ever since the circulation of a video clip depicting torture of a baby girl named Dareen, we were praying to the Almighty that security officers should arrest the girl’s father who has stained his manhood by committing such a horrendous crime.
We saw the man covering the little girl’s mouth and our hearts exploded watching that horrible scene. Within a few hours after the appearance of the video clip, we heard the reassuring statement of the Labor and Social Development Ministry’s spokesman, saying the girl was fine.
However, within that few hours we remembered the cases of children like Ahmed, Lama and Yara who were tortured to death by their parents or close relatives and feared that Daren would also meet with the same tragic end.
An official agency’s failure to save a little child puts the entire society in a shameful situation. Despite of the feeling of discontent by most citizens – I am one of them – toward the Ministry of Labor and Social Development as a result of its poor services, I salute it for this commendable action. I would like to express my appreciation for the ministry’s efforts in taking care of Dareen soon after the video surfaced. This has made all members of society happy.
It has become quite common that children are part of many social issues. I have noticed that society is very much concerned about such issues and will follow up every aspect of the issue and how government departments deal with the issue. They will also seek to plug all loopholes in the law.
The ministry deserves applause for shouldering its responsibility and responding quickly to take care of the baby and protect her. Many people were overjoyed seeing the ministry’s representative with the baby in another video clip.
At the same time, the latest video clip has raised many questions. Who took the video as it cannot be a family member? The official’s facial expression shows that it was taken by a ministry representative.
How can the official say the child is all right before taking her to a doctor for medical checkups? What was meant by the comment that the girl is in her grandma’s house and was having a maid to look after her and there was no conflict regarding her custody?
Millions of people have watched the video clip showing the father torturing the baby. What is the purpose of taking the video while the girl was in her grandmother's home and what was the message those who posted the video were trying to convey to the public?
We would like to know whether all branches of the ministry follow the same method in dealing with family violence cases. How do they register such cases of torture? Do they register it in a friendly or official way? The official’s visit to the child shows as if he was visiting a neighbor and it did not reflect an official visit, showing the ministry’s professionalism in dealing with such cases. They took pictures with the child and stated she was in good condition and did not give her mother’s viewpoint.
Torturing women and children is a crime, which takes place all over the world on a daily basis. Advanced countries have enacted laws to protect them and they will not show any leniency in such matters. If we fail to take tough action on such cases, unscrupulous men will try to show their hegemony and brutality, endangering the lives of their wives and children.
Our system is still hesitant to acknowledge a woman’s right to take custody of children being their mother. As the situation around us has changed and we live in difficult times we are in need of strong and deterrent rules and regulations to protect the future of this society.
People who are not afraid of God reject all values, even animal values. This situation cannot be changed without changing the protection law, which we have found to be very weak.
No doubt all ministries that extend their services properly will receive the applause of citizens. They should make continuous efforts to improve their services and enhance their performance. They should look for opportunities to improve their services and impress the general public.
Before concluding this article I would like to suggest that the social affairs should be segregated from the Ministry of Labor and Social Development. There should be two separate ministries like before to focus on labor and social issues, considering the importance of the two portfolios.
Saudi Arabia’s population is increasing day by day and more efforts should be made to solve the various problems facing society. At the same time, the Kingdom is facing an unemployment problem as well as labor issues due the presence of more than 10 million foreign workers in the country.
