Father Locked a Palestinian Girl in Bathroom for 10 Years

Melhem told police that her father locked her in bathroom for last 10 years and she was allowed to come out in night only for cleaning the home.

She was released for this prison-ship by Police in the west bank city of Qalqilya, her father handed over to Israel Police as he holds Israeli citizenship and presented before the court.
She was 11 when this prison-ship started and she was beaten with metal wires. Size of bathroom was 1-1/2 meters. Her father used to shave her eyebrows and hairs and she was free in night 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.

She dreamed of fleeing, but Miss Melhem said her father threatened to rape her until she became pregnant if she tried to escape. Then he warned he would kill her and justify the crime by saying that she had shamed the family – what is known in Arab society as ‘honor killing.’

She said when he was angry, he regularly beat her with electric cables and sticks. He poured cold water on her when she asked for her mother, and sometimes shaved her head and eyebrows. She was let out only late at night to clean the rest of the house. Before dawn, her father then locked her back inside. He gave her bread, oil and an apple every day.

At one point, her father gave her a razor blade, telling her it would be better if she killed herself. Miss Melhem said her stepmother urged her to do it, telling her she was a nobody.

When asked if she hoped to marry, Miss Melhem was visibly upset. ‘If the violence I experienced was between a father and a daughter, what happens between a man and a wife? No, I never want to marry,’ she said.