Lebanon’s security forces have found three tortured and abused children at a cafe in North Lebanon.
In a statement, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) said the three siblings were found on February 4th in the locality of Aabde, in the Akkar District.
Upon being examined by a forensic pathologist, Syrian nationals “M.J.,” “M.J.,” and “S.J.,” aged 10, 8, and 3 respectively, were found to have abuse marks on their bodies.
ISF personnel took care of the girls and took their testaments, in the presence of a delegate of the Union for the Protection of Juveniles.
The children stated that they had suffered beating and harm on several occasions and in various methods, at the hands of their maternal grandmother, identified as 48-year-old Lebanese national “A.L.,” and her husband, 50-year-old Lebanese national “J.J.”
Their 22-year-old Syrian uncle “H.B.” had also participated in abusing them, at their grandmother’s house in Sidon.
According to the ISF’s statement, the children were brought from Sidon to the place they were found at in the north aboard a taxi. They were meant to be picked up by their mother, who had placed them at her mother’s home to be looked after.
Instead, “they were beaten several times with a stick and an electric wire, the back of their hands were burned by a heated knife, and the fingers of one of them were pressed with pliers.”
Not only that but the grandmother forced the children to eat at the doorstep while she and her children ate at the dining table.
“The minors asked about the taste of bottled water when presented to them by the policemen because drinking it (bottled water) was restricted to the grandmother’s children, while they drank tap water,” the statement said.
As the abused children slept in the police station, the authorities issued an arrest warrant for the grandmother and her husband for beating, harming, and abusing the children, while work is underway to arrest the uncle, who has disappeared.
The children were later placed in the custody of a local organization after it was determined that their mother, who is being questioned, was not qualified to take care of them, especially after she stated she would hand them over to their grandmother following her release.
Cases of domestic violence have been on the rise in Lebanon recently, including instances involving children. Domestic violence is a serious matter that must not be taken lightly. Here’s how you can protect children from it.
If you know any children who are victims of domestic violence, call the ISF Hotline 1745 or any of the following local organizations that can help. Contact HIMAYA +961 3 414 964, KAFA: +961 3 018 019, or ABAAD +961 81 78 81 78.