Father claims daughter 'fell into toilet' and dies; not tortured

 Manama : The nine-year-old girl, who was reportedly tortured to death by her father and step mother on Monday, apparently “fell in the toilet” at her residence in Hidd, according to the father’s sayings in the police station.

However, police initial investigations showed that the girl’s body had marks of multiple injuries that happened in different occasions, raising the possibility of criminal suspicion.

 Elaborating further on the details of the incident, Muharraq Governorate General Director Colonel Fawaz Al Hassan said in a statement, “The main Operations Room received a notification from a citizen claiming that his nine-year-old daughter has been injured after falling in the bathroom of their house in Hidd.”

“The directorate followed the necessary steps and an ambulance was sent to the scene. But the girl had already passed away. A coroner was assigned to examine the body. Multiple injuries that occurred on different occasions were detected on the girl’s corpse. The coroner reported that some of the wounds were fresh and simultaneous to the time of death. This raised criminal suspicions in the case,” Col Al Hassan said.

He explained that the crime scene investigation team was assigned to inspect the scene and lift traces and evidences from it.

The official added, “Family members’ testimonies were heard and the Public Prosecution was notified about the incident. The father and the step mother were interrogated by the prosecution, which also decided to detain them pending investigation. The father was allowed to attend the girl’s funeral.”

No further information was revealed as the case is still under investigation. Yet, sources told DT News yesterday that there was a deep rift between the father and the girl's mum, and it could potentially have links with the horrible death of the girl.  

Anyhow, if proven to be a torture case, it’s the first case of this scale of tragedy to be reported in the Kingdom. Besides it’s the second death incident involving a child to occur in Hidd recently. DT News reported on July 1 that a child’s body was found in a car trunk. Investigations suggested that the three-year-old boy mistakenly locked himself in while playing near the car.