Savage parents

Al-Madina

SOME believe that various forms of torture and brutality are related only to certain species of predators or even some human species of criminals and terrorists who have lost their sense humanity and all forms of mercy and compassion and have become monsters trapped in human bodies. Some even went beyond these limits and became worse than monsters, who might still have some compassion and mercy.

There are certain individuals; the community calls them fathers because they are married and had children and yet they know nothing of being a parent. Some of them did not stop at the level of child molestation, but amounted to torture and some of them were seduced by drugs to become killers not only assaulting, beating and abusing children, but even killing them. Some believe that the method of cruelty and insanity is one of the methods of bringing up a child. You find these individuals having various tools for beating at home, and may find their homes equipped with a room where they imprison children after beating them.

The children are flowers of this life, and they are the dream that many parents wish to have. They are the apples of their parents' eyes and they can only smile whenever they see them. Yet some parents take pride in torturing their children and here I am not talking only about children over 3 years who can rely on themselves in some things like walking, sitting and talking, but I am also talking about innocent children who are not more than a few months old and are still being breastfed. Yet, they are harassed, beaten and tortured even though they do not understand anything and do not have the linguistic skills to speak and know of only the language of yelling.

Recently, a video went viral showing one of the so-called "fathers" or a description of a man who was severely beating his child of no more than a year old in a public place. The monster was accompanied by a woman with a stroller in which the little boy, who appeared to be their son, sat. The man suddenly hit the child and so he fell off the stroller and then threw the stroller and then picked him up again. The video received so much discontent in social media and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development said that they follow the situation.

A major part of pre-marriage orientation program for young men and women should include their ability to be good parents and not predatory monsters. If this scene is in a public place, what happens to these infants at home? Here I am not talking about the workers or the domestic workers who sometimes commit violence against children. I speak of those who are called parents and who are supposed to be compassionate with their children and concerned about their safety and comfort.

The official spokesman of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development pointed out in his meeting that there are 6 cases of child deaths during the last two years due to parents' abuse despite having a Royal Decree to punish those who commit acts of violence. The competent authorities should put all necessary precautions to reduce the number of cases of domestic violence in general and against children in particular.