Dad chains 8-year-old son, dumps him in dark room for "bad behavior" (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)

At least UNNAMED DAD was arrested after the boy was heard screaming. However, it's not clear that what this daddy did is actually against UAE law. In addition, the mother is unable to intervene as she is a "stateless citizen." Just goes to show that the institutionalization of fathers rights goes hand in hand with the disenfrachisement of mothers and the "acceptance" of all but the most brutal forms of child abuse. This state of affairs, my friends, is what our fathers rights people want for THIS country.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2010/October/theuae_October464.xml&section=theuae

Screams from a dark room... boy in chains
Amira Agarib
19 October 2010

SHARJAH — In a bizarre incident, an eight-year-old boy was bound in chains and dumped in a dark room to rue his alleged bad behaviour.

The boy’s father and alleged tormentor, was arrested and will be referred to the Sharjah Public Prosecution; the victim was sent to a social care centre.

A Sharjah Police official told Khaleej Times that neighbours of the family in Ibn Khaldoon area in Al Sajaa informed them about the father’s extreme measure after they heard the child screaming in agony on Monday.

Officers from the Heira police station rushed to the house and found the boy’s hands and feet bound in chains. He was struggling to move, they said. When questioned, the father, a Pakistani national, said he resorted to this extreme step because the boy was behaving badly and needed to be disciplined.

Police said both the child and his mother were stateless citizens. ‘‘We do not have full information on the case and we are still gathering information,’’ a senior official said. There were no torture marks on the boy’s body, but he looked pale, thin and frightened, according to the police.

Meanwhile, the father was detained for a few hours and released on bail. He will appear before the prosecution on Tuesday.

Dubai-based legal consultant Sayed Atia said the UAE laws give fathers the right to correct their children and inculcate good values to them under Article 53 of Federal Penal Code 3 of the year 1987. ‘‘But if the punishment exceeds limits, or if the father harshly beats up the child or injure, or kills him, it is considered a crime, and child abuse charges can be slapped as per the federal penal code.’’

He said Islam urged people to correct their children. ‘‘If a father chains his child with the intention of correcting him, he will be pardoned by the court, otherwise he faces imprisonment of two years for endangering the child’s life.’’