UNNAMED DAD has managed to strip the mother of the custody of their 5-year-old daughter despite the fact that the girl's genitals were mutiliated (that's what female "circumcision" is) while under his "care." The only question that seemed to matter to the courts is whether it was "illegal" or "legally" performed by doctors. Utterly revolting.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=279866
Circumcision girl's father wins custody
By RASHA AL QAHTANI , Posted on » Wednesday, June 09, 2010
A FATHER at the centre of a row about the circumcision of his five-year-old daughter was yesterday awarded custody of the child.
The girl's Bahraini mother, 28, was previously arrested after a six-day hunt when she went into hiding with the youngster, to avoid having to hand her back to the Emirati following a custody visit.
She was released the following day and filed an official complaint against her ex-husband, accusing him of performing illegal circumcision on the child.
Sharia Court judges yesterday refused mother's request to impose a travel ban to keep the girl in Bahrain, during a closed-door session but awarded the father custody.
The father's lawyers earlier admitted that the girl had been circumcised, but said it was a tradition practised in the UAE and was done legally by doctors.
Medical experts previously ruled out the mother's claims that a maid assaulted her daughter in the custody of her father in the UAE.
The couple married in 2004 and their daughter was born the following year.
They divorced a year later and the father returned to the UAE with the child.
However, the mother then fought for legal custody of her daughter in Bahrain's courts, which granted her full custody in 2006.
But the child's father also filed a case in the UAE, where a court awarded him full custody in 2008, although the mother later won visitation rights.
The mother now plans to continue her custody battle at the Islamic Sharia court.
It is understood the girl was not immediately handed over to the father after yesterday's ruling.
Showing posts with label Bahrain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bahrain. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Despite court order, mother still unable to reunite with daughter (Bahrain)
Initially, UNNAMED DAD fled with the child to Bahrain, and then divorced the mother by text message. Now Dad is in jail on drug dealing charges, and Mom still can't get Dad's family to return the child to her despite being granted custody two years ago. It appears that the police--and the Bahrain government in general--are doing nothing to help this mother. We've posted on this case before. Go to the Bahrain tab for additional information.
By the way, the dad has been identified elsewhere as MOHAMMED AL MUTAWA.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=274078
Mum is left heartbroken
By Begena p Pradeep, Posted on » Thursday, March 25, 2010
A BAHRAINI family again ignored a court order instructing it to hand a seven-year-old girl over to her mother yesterday - two years after it ignored the first order.
Lecita Flores waited six hours for the family of her ex-husband - a convicted drug dealer currently behind bars - to bring her daughter Sarah to a police station, but still went home alone and heartbroken.
Her lawyer Mohammed Al Mutawa accused police of not doing their job, saying he was becoming increasingly frustrated at the "absurd" lack of action from the Interior Ministry.
The GDN reported yesterday that a court had once again ruled Ms Flores should be reunited with Sarah after a draining six-year custody battle.
However, the family repeatedly delayed the handover of the child yesterday and even stopped answering phone calls from police.
Ms Flores had been accompanied to the Naim Police Station by Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society workers rights and monitoring director Ateyatala Rowhani and a Philippine Embassy official.
"I was at the station since 9am with the court order and since then the police were in contact (by phone) with Sarah's three aunts and an uncle," a devastated Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They said they were going to collect Sarah from her school and come straight to the station.
"Until Mr Rowhani and the Embassy official came at 11am, Sarah had not reached and police called again.
"They again said they were on their way with Sarah and we kept waiting. Then at 1pm all their phones were switched off. So I and Mr Rowhani went to Sarah's father's house in Mahooz followed by the police.
"We waited outside the house for the police to arrive, but we got a call from the station saying they were able to get Sarah's relatives on the phone again and that they had said they were on their way to the station.
"So we went back to the station and waited, but they never came and their phones were switched off again."
Ms Flores has been instructed to go back to the police station again today.
"The police asked us to come back and said they would try them (the relatives) again.
"I just don't know what else to do. I am trying to get my child the proper way through the judiciary and police, but it seems no-one cares.
"But I cannot give up, can I? I will try until my last to get my child back from these people, who do not even care for the law."
A frustrated Mr Al Mutawa said he could not understand why police were dragging their heels over the case, especially since the court order grants them power to take the child by force if necessary.
Action
"The court order says the police may use force if needed if the other party does not co-operate and I don't know why the police did not even try.
"All of us have waited for so long for the ex-husband's family to hand over the child, but they don't.
"That is why we got the special court order, but why are the police not honouring it? This is just not fair and very bad if you ask me.
"When the relatives, who said they were on their way, did not reach the police station after two hours and later switched off their phones, it was clear they were trying to break the law.
"But the police, who are authorised to take action, are not doing it. What should we understand from this?
"If a man kills another man would the police phone the murderer asking him to present himself at the station, but stop chasing the case if the murderer switches off his phone?
"All this is too absurd."
However, police sources confirmed last night that they would resort to using force to get Sarah for Ms Flores if the ex-husband's family refused to co-operate.
They said they chose to give the family a chance to hand over the child in an amicable way.
"Now since the police have a court order which says if the family refuses to hand over the child even after asking them to do so, we should forcefully get her," they said.
"We also have the authority to arrest anyone who tries to hinder us in performing our duty.
The latest court order also includes instructions for Sarah to undergo counselling if necessary, since she barely knows her own mother anymore.
Ms Flores met Sarah briefly in court in January for the first time in six months, when the child was asked to choose who she preferred to live with.
Sarah told the judge that she did not love her mother anymore and was afraid of her, but Ms Flores claimed she had been brainwashed by the father's family.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of Sarah by a Sharia Court in March 2008 and again by the Execution Court last July. Ms Flores, who has also been awarded custody of Sarah by a Kuwaiti court, began her custody battle in 2004 after her husband fled to Bahrain with their child and divorced her by text message.
By the way, the dad has been identified elsewhere as MOHAMMED AL MUTAWA.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=274078
Mum is left heartbroken
By Begena p Pradeep, Posted on » Thursday, March 25, 2010
A BAHRAINI family again ignored a court order instructing it to hand a seven-year-old girl over to her mother yesterday - two years after it ignored the first order.
Lecita Flores waited six hours for the family of her ex-husband - a convicted drug dealer currently behind bars - to bring her daughter Sarah to a police station, but still went home alone and heartbroken.
Her lawyer Mohammed Al Mutawa accused police of not doing their job, saying he was becoming increasingly frustrated at the "absurd" lack of action from the Interior Ministry.
The GDN reported yesterday that a court had once again ruled Ms Flores should be reunited with Sarah after a draining six-year custody battle.
However, the family repeatedly delayed the handover of the child yesterday and even stopped answering phone calls from police.
Ms Flores had been accompanied to the Naim Police Station by Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society workers rights and monitoring director Ateyatala Rowhani and a Philippine Embassy official.
"I was at the station since 9am with the court order and since then the police were in contact (by phone) with Sarah's three aunts and an uncle," a devastated Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They said they were going to collect Sarah from her school and come straight to the station.
"Until Mr Rowhani and the Embassy official came at 11am, Sarah had not reached and police called again.
"They again said they were on their way with Sarah and we kept waiting. Then at 1pm all their phones were switched off. So I and Mr Rowhani went to Sarah's father's house in Mahooz followed by the police.
"We waited outside the house for the police to arrive, but we got a call from the station saying they were able to get Sarah's relatives on the phone again and that they had said they were on their way to the station.
"So we went back to the station and waited, but they never came and their phones were switched off again."
Ms Flores has been instructed to go back to the police station again today.
"The police asked us to come back and said they would try them (the relatives) again.
"I just don't know what else to do. I am trying to get my child the proper way through the judiciary and police, but it seems no-one cares.
"But I cannot give up, can I? I will try until my last to get my child back from these people, who do not even care for the law."
A frustrated Mr Al Mutawa said he could not understand why police were dragging their heels over the case, especially since the court order grants them power to take the child by force if necessary.
Action
"The court order says the police may use force if needed if the other party does not co-operate and I don't know why the police did not even try.
"All of us have waited for so long for the ex-husband's family to hand over the child, but they don't.
"That is why we got the special court order, but why are the police not honouring it? This is just not fair and very bad if you ask me.
"When the relatives, who said they were on their way, did not reach the police station after two hours and later switched off their phones, it was clear they were trying to break the law.
"But the police, who are authorised to take action, are not doing it. What should we understand from this?
"If a man kills another man would the police phone the murderer asking him to present himself at the station, but stop chasing the case if the murderer switches off his phone?
"All this is too absurd."
However, police sources confirmed last night that they would resort to using force to get Sarah for Ms Flores if the ex-husband's family refused to co-operate.
They said they chose to give the family a chance to hand over the child in an amicable way.
"Now since the police have a court order which says if the family refuses to hand over the child even after asking them to do so, we should forcefully get her," they said.
"We also have the authority to arrest anyone who tries to hinder us in performing our duty.
The latest court order also includes instructions for Sarah to undergo counselling if necessary, since she barely knows her own mother anymore.
Ms Flores met Sarah briefly in court in January for the first time in six months, when the child was asked to choose who she preferred to live with.
Sarah told the judge that she did not love her mother anymore and was afraid of her, but Ms Flores claimed she had been brainwashed by the father's family.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of Sarah by a Sharia Court in March 2008 and again by the Execution Court last July. Ms Flores, who has also been awarded custody of Sarah by a Kuwaiti court, began her custody battle in 2004 after her husband fled to Bahrain with their child and divorced her by text message.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dad takes off with child; even though he's now in prison, mom still can't get child back from his relatives (Bahrain)
Father MOHAMMED AL MUTAWA took off to Bahrain with his six-year-old daughter last year and never returned her, although the Filipina mother had been granted custody by a Sharia Court in Kuwait. Now Dad is in prison for ten years for some other matter, and the mom still can't get the child back from his relatives. This custody case has been a disaster for this poor mother for years, and the authorities in all the various country involved in this mess have done virtually nothing to help her. The take-no-prisoners tactics of the father and his family are very typical of abusers everywhere.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=256901
Crunch hearing for tug-of-love mum
Posted on » Tuesday, August 04, 2009
A FILIPINA mother who was granted custody of her daughter more than a year ago will plead before a court tomorrow hoping to be reunited with the six-year-old.
A Sharia Court judge granted Lecita Flores, 43, custody of Sarah in March last year, but her father allegedly failed to return her after a visit.
Since then Ms Flores has been in and out of courts in an effort to get her daughter back.
Sarah is thought to be living with her three aunts because, according to Ms Flores, her ex-
husband is now serving a 10-year jail sentence.
A lawyer acting on behalf of Ms Flores, Mohammed Al Mutawa, earlier said he had asked the Execution Court to investigate suggestions that her ex-husband was in prison, but could not confirm the claim.
Ms Flores claims the Execution Court issued an order at the beginning of last month stating that her ex-husband's family should hand Sarah over to her.
However, she alleged that an hour later the same judge issued a court order reversing the decision.
Ms Flores said the judge told her that under a new law, children could not be forced into living with a parent if they refused.
"The judge said all he could do was give a court order to the Social Development Ministry to give me visitation rights," Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They gave me two hours of visiting rights on Friday and Saturday every week.
"But when I saw my daughter, she said: 'You are not my mother'."
Ms Flores now fears that she has been apart from her daughter for so long that Sarah has turned against her.
"I last saw my daughter on July 25 for a few minutes and when we met she said: 'I don't love you'," she said.
On July 30, Ms Flores said she received a call from the Juffair Social Centre, which was overseeing visitations, and told her that she would not be able to see her daughter.
The centre reportedly told Ms Flores that her daughter refused to see her and it was not obliged to force the child.
Since then Ms Flores has been back to the Execution Court to find out how she can be reunited with her daughter.
She is now planning to return to the courts tomorrow and hopes to persuade a different judge to issue another court order demanding that Sarah's aunts return the six-year-old.
"I feel very bad, I miss my daughter," said a tearful Ms Flores yesterday.
"For a long time I didn't see my daughter. Her aunts switched her mobile off, so I can't even talk to her.
"How can the court decide on something and then reverse it an hour later?"
Ms Flores' battle to be reunited with her daughter has been in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini courts since 2004.
She first filed a case against her ex-husband in Kuwait, where the couple met and married.
The Kuwait Sharia Court granted her full custody of Sarah after her ex-husband allegedly fled to Bahrain, telling Ms Flores he had divorced her and was keeping their daughter.
When she followed him to Bahrain in November 2004, she was told she had to file a case here as the Kuwaiti ruling did not apply.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of the child during a Sharia Court hearing in March 2008, but her ex-husband refused to hand the child over - despite four court orders obliging him to do so.
He eventually did and was granted visitation rights, but allegedly failed to return Sarah after taking her out during a visit.
In July last year the Execution Court ordered Sarah be returned to Ms Flores after the girl's father was arrested for breaching his visitation rights.
However, he was freed following a Sharia Court hearing at the Justice Ministry in Manama a week later, despite refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts.
The judge said he was powerless to keep the girl's father locked up and told Ms Flores she would have to file another criminal case against him.
Sarah's father and his five sisters then filed a civil case against the Filipina seeking BD12,750 in damages for the emotional stress they claimed she put the family through by initiating legal action against him, but it was thrown out.
Ms Flores' ex-husband broke a court order in 2005 and fled with the child to Qatar, where he has relatives.
But he was persuaded to return several months later after being threatened with a kidnapping charge.
Juffair Social Centre officials were unavailable for comment last night.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=256901
Crunch hearing for tug-of-love mum
Posted on » Tuesday, August 04, 2009
A FILIPINA mother who was granted custody of her daughter more than a year ago will plead before a court tomorrow hoping to be reunited with the six-year-old.
A Sharia Court judge granted Lecita Flores, 43, custody of Sarah in March last year, but her father allegedly failed to return her after a visit.
Since then Ms Flores has been in and out of courts in an effort to get her daughter back.
Sarah is thought to be living with her three aunts because, according to Ms Flores, her ex-
husband is now serving a 10-year jail sentence.
A lawyer acting on behalf of Ms Flores, Mohammed Al Mutawa, earlier said he had asked the Execution Court to investigate suggestions that her ex-husband was in prison, but could not confirm the claim.
Ms Flores claims the Execution Court issued an order at the beginning of last month stating that her ex-husband's family should hand Sarah over to her.
However, she alleged that an hour later the same judge issued a court order reversing the decision.
Ms Flores said the judge told her that under a new law, children could not be forced into living with a parent if they refused.
"The judge said all he could do was give a court order to the Social Development Ministry to give me visitation rights," Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They gave me two hours of visiting rights on Friday and Saturday every week.
"But when I saw my daughter, she said: 'You are not my mother'."
Ms Flores now fears that she has been apart from her daughter for so long that Sarah has turned against her.
"I last saw my daughter on July 25 for a few minutes and when we met she said: 'I don't love you'," she said.
On July 30, Ms Flores said she received a call from the Juffair Social Centre, which was overseeing visitations, and told her that she would not be able to see her daughter.
The centre reportedly told Ms Flores that her daughter refused to see her and it was not obliged to force the child.
Since then Ms Flores has been back to the Execution Court to find out how she can be reunited with her daughter.
She is now planning to return to the courts tomorrow and hopes to persuade a different judge to issue another court order demanding that Sarah's aunts return the six-year-old.
"I feel very bad, I miss my daughter," said a tearful Ms Flores yesterday.
"For a long time I didn't see my daughter. Her aunts switched her mobile off, so I can't even talk to her.
"How can the court decide on something and then reverse it an hour later?"
Ms Flores' battle to be reunited with her daughter has been in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini courts since 2004.
She first filed a case against her ex-husband in Kuwait, where the couple met and married.
The Kuwait Sharia Court granted her full custody of Sarah after her ex-husband allegedly fled to Bahrain, telling Ms Flores he had divorced her and was keeping their daughter.
When she followed him to Bahrain in November 2004, she was told she had to file a case here as the Kuwaiti ruling did not apply.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of the child during a Sharia Court hearing in March 2008, but her ex-husband refused to hand the child over - despite four court orders obliging him to do so.
He eventually did and was granted visitation rights, but allegedly failed to return Sarah after taking her out during a visit.
In July last year the Execution Court ordered Sarah be returned to Ms Flores after the girl's father was arrested for breaching his visitation rights.
However, he was freed following a Sharia Court hearing at the Justice Ministry in Manama a week later, despite refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts.
The judge said he was powerless to keep the girl's father locked up and told Ms Flores she would have to file another criminal case against him.
Sarah's father and his five sisters then filed a civil case against the Filipina seeking BD12,750 in damages for the emotional stress they claimed she put the family through by initiating legal action against him, but it was thrown out.
Ms Flores' ex-husband broke a court order in 2005 and fled with the child to Qatar, where he has relatives.
But he was persuaded to return several months later after being threatened with a kidnapping charge.
Juffair Social Centre officials were unavailable for comment last night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)