Nasty custody battle leaves Bahrainis gasping !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source:gulfnews.com
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief




..............."Although I myself was targeted by a character-assassination campaign, I was shocked to hear about the sexual molestation claims against a poor man who may have been negligent, but is, nevertheless, a father with sentiments for his sons,"

Manama: Bahrainis yesterday expressed shock at the extent to which a disgruntled woman went after she falsely accused her former husband of sexually abusing their two sons in order to win a nasty custody battle.

But Dr Banna Bu Zaboon, the President of the Bahraini Society to Resist Family Violence, said that molestation charges by either parent, although not common, were not a phenomenon.

The father, according to sources close to the prosecution office, was reported to the police by his former wife who said that her sons told her that he had abused them sexually.

The two sons, both less than 12 years old, were in the father's custody after their mother re-married.

The investigation revealed that the molestation claims against the father were baseless, but a medical examination found out that one boy had been sexually abused by another man who was subsequently arrested.

The mother admitted that she had filed the case against her husband in order to win the custody of the two children.

"I have come across such cases several times. Women accused their former husbands of sexually molesting their children, and men charged that their ex-wives engaged in violence against their daughters," Dr Banna told Gulf News.

She added that the drive to take revenge and the desire to ensure the custody of the children sometimes led people to such extreme allegations.

"Whenever we hear of such a case, we investigate it so that we know exactly what happened and how people want to switch facts to their advantage," she said. "But it is invariably the children who suffer physically and emotionally from the nasty developments in custody cases."

Moral pain

Government employee Ahmad Salah, who was accused of violence by his former wife, said that the moral pain at being charged compounded the difficult situation resulting from physical separation from the children and the implications of a broken home.

"Although I myself was targeted by a character-assassination campaign, I was shocked to hear about the sexual molestation claims against a poor man who may have been negligent, but is, nevertheless, a father with sentiments for his sons," he said.