Saudi Gazette report

TABUK — Police are investigating a viral video that showed two children clinging to the window of a building in Tabuk, Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The children were apparently chained to the window of their room in a second-story apartment.

The man who posted the video claimed that these children of estranged parents were being abused.

The man claimed that the maid was the one who locked them outside the window.

The case was reported to the Social Protection Unit in the area and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development was looking into it with the police.

The police contacted the man living in the apartment and he confirmed that he was the children’s father and that their mother lived with them in the apartment.

He also said the children did not go through any abuse.

In a report on violence against children in the Kingdom for 2016, the ministry said it received 11,142 complaints. In 2015, there were only around 5,000 such cases.

There has been an increase in domestic violence cases over the past years.

Violence and abuse could be physical, sexual, verbal and emotional. In some cases the violence has resulted in the death of the victim.

The public can report domestic violence cases by calling 1919. The call center is open all day round with over 70 trained women employees. The 24 social protection units all over the Kingdom handle all reports within a few hours.

The ministry aims to increase the number of employees in the social protection units to 21,000 working in 200 units by the year 2020.