Girl imprisoned for 9 years in dark rooms by her father, beaten, barely fed and only let out at night

A young Palestinian woman who was imprisoned for 10 years in a series of dark rooms by her father revealed today she survived the ordeal by listening to the radio, dreaming of seeing sunshine again and finding small pleasure in an apple she was fed each day.

Baraa Melhem, 20, said she was enjoying her first taste of freedom after a decade of isolation and threats of rape and abuse, and she hopes to use her experience to help others.

'I have joy now. My life has begun,' the young woman, dressed in red sweat pants, white shoes, a black shawl for warmth and a headscarf, said.

Miss Melhem was rescued by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya on Saturday after an aunt notified police. Adnan Damiri, a Palestinian police spokesman, said she was in 'deplorable' condition.

Her father and stepmother, both Arab citizens of Israel, were turned over to Israeli authorities. Locked up in Israel, neither could be reached for comment. The father, Hassan Melhem, 49, is expected to appear in an Israeli court on Wednesday, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The stepmother's name wasn't available.

Speaking softly but confidently, Miss Melhem said she was beaten, barely fed and let out only in the middle of the night to do housework. She was given only a blanket, radio and a razor blade by her father and stepmother, and both of them encouraged her to kill herself.

'I don't hate my father. But I hate what he did to me. Why did he do it? I don't understand,' she said.

Miss Melhem said she was first locked up in a bathroom after she ran away from home when she was 10. Police brought her home, and her father forced her to sign a statement saying she didn't want to go back to school. Miss Melhem's parents divorced when she was four years old, and her father received custody.

Miss Melhem is now living with her mother, Maysoun, in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Miss Melhem she said she was finally happy in her new home - a shabby, purple-painted room with pink curtains, four mattresses on the ground and a red blanket. She clutched a large doll that her mother gave her as a gift.

'This is heaven. Because you have always been free, you don't appreciate it. But for somebody like me, who has tasted the bitterness of a prison, this is heaven.'

Mrs Melhem, who has remarried, refused to give her last name or age. She said she was so eager to divorce her first husband that when he insisted on keeping their daughter, she agreed. She took their son because the father used to spray perfume into his eyes. She said he was not violent toward the daughter.

I was so young when I was getting a divorce. I didn't understand anything. I was just so desperate to be rid of that man,' she said.Miss Melhem described her father as a violent man who also terrified her half brother and half sister. Although their conditions were better, they, too, were not allowed to leave the house when the father wasn't home. She said the siblings, who are believed to be staying with relatives now, were mentally disabled and were not sent to school.

'Fear, fear, fear - that was the basis of my life,' Miss Melhem said.

Miss Melhem said she kept sane by listening to a small transistor radio that her father gave her in the past five years. The young woman was up to date with news and current affairs and named her favorite radio hosts.

In one instance, she said, her spirits were lifted when she heard on her radio that her astrological sign was Leo, meaning she had a fiery personality.

Over the years the family moved twice more. Each time she was locked up. In her final home in Qalqiliya, she was kept in what she described as a bathroom that measured 3ft-by-3ft.

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.

To cope, Miss Melhem said she often jumped up and down for exercise, cleaned the bathroom, dusted off her blanket, washed her clothes and then listened to the radio all day.

Hala Shreim, a social worker who accompanied police on the rescue, said Miss Melhem was found in the small bathroom with a tiny window. She said the woman was wrapped in a blanket and wore threadbare clothes so old that they were disintegrating.

When she was taken outside, Miss Melhem said she was blinded by the pale winter sun. It was more sunlight than she had seen in 10 years.

'Is that the sun? Is that the sun I was dreaming of?' she said she asked police. Miss Melhem said the sight of so many people startled her. 'Are those the people I was hearing on the radio?' she asked the police.

Miss Melhem said her first request, after she was released, was for hard candy - something she had been denied since she was a child. Then she asked to see her mother.

Miss Melhem's mother, who remarried and moved to a different town, had asked about her daughter, but her ex-husband would make up excuses why the young woman wasn't around and sometimes told the mother to mind her own business, said social worker Shreim said.

Miss Melhem said she paid special attention to mental health programs on Palestinian radio. She believes that listening to voices from the outside world, modest exercise and eating an apple each day saved her. Although she has nothing more than an elementary school education, she said she hopes to study psychology and one day treat people who had similar fates.

'There is no house in the world - look outside the window. In every house, somebody is suffering,' she said.

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

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5 dead, 10,000 displaced after clashes in Benin

Clashes that broke out after Muslims were violently targeted in Benin have left five people dead and more than 10,000 displaced, a Red Cross official said Tuesday.

“We have recorded so far five deaths — on both sides, those that have been attacked and the attackers,” said Dan Enowoghomwenwa, secretary general of the Nigerian Red Cross in Edo state, said

“We have over 10,000 internally displaced persons in various places.

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25 Killed In Jos Violence, Get Mass Burial

Twenty five people killed in the renewed violence in Barkin Ladi LGA of Plateau State were yesterday given a mass burial at Takwok village where most of them were killed on Wednesday night.

Over 500 displaced people are also seeking refuge at the Barkin Ladi town following the violence which necessitated the imposition of a curfew in the council.

Also on Friday, the Special Task Force (STF) maintaining security in the state paraded 163 suspects arrested in connection with the violence.

STF spokesman, Captain Charles Ekeocha who paraded them said six of the suspects arrested in connection with the killing of a police inspector, his wife and daughter in the violence, have been handed over to the police for investigations. He said several arms and ammunition including AK-47 rifles, daggers, and other dangerous weapons were recovered from the suspects. He attributed the immediate cause of the fresh hostilities to the rustling of about 20 cows on Sunday night which resulted in
the killing of three youths who were returning to their village the same day.

In a separate development, a student of the Plateau State Polytechnic, Heipang, was shot when the convoy of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petirin, ran into a road block mounted by the students.

The students who were protesting the hit on one of them by a motorist had put barricades on the road to prevent vehicular movement when the convoy of the defence chief ran into them.

Soldiers in Petirin’s convoy were said to have shot into the air to disperse the students and in the ensuring mêlée, one of the students was hit by a bullet and he died instantly.

Meanwhile, loud wails rent the air as the deceased which included four children of the Councillor representing the area in the local council Mr Pam Choji who were killed during the attack on the village were buried.

Choji told journalists that his children and three other members of his household were killed during Wednesday night’s attack, adding that it was difficult to ascertain the number of people killed during the attack as the assailants shot sporadically.

He said two more bodies were discovered on Friday in a mining pond into which the bodies were thrown after they were killed adding, “as we go along the bush path, we discover more bodies.”

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Nursing mother jailed 7 days for stealing indomie.

An Osogbo Senior Magistrates’ Court on Thursday sentenced a 28-year-old nursing mother, Taye Joseph, to seven days of community service for stealing a carton of indomie.

The convict was to be kept in the custody of Ataoja Police Station in Osogbo from where she was expected to be coming to clean the court’s premises for seven days.

Senior Magistrate Olusola Aluko, however, gave an option of N300 fine for each of the seven-count charges brought against the convict.

Joseph had pleaded guilty to the seven-count charges of conspiracy, house-breaking as well as stealing and asked for leniency.

The police prosecutor, Solomon Oladele, told the court that the woman committed the offences, which contravened sections 516, 383, 413 and 390, of the Criminal Code, Laws of Osun, on Nov. 16, at Olugun area in Osogbo.

Oladele, while presenting the facts of the case during a summary trial, told the court that Joseph forcefully entered the shop of one Fasilat Yinusa and stole a carton of indomie valued at N1, 200.

He added that the woman stole some biscuits, Viju milk, eggs, packets of cigarettes and Bournvita among other items from the shops of Mulikat Agbeja and Folasade Suleieman.

According to Oladele, one Falola Saidi sighted the convict while trying to escape with the stolen items and raised an alarm which enabled passersby to apprehend her.

Aluko, in his jugdment, aid : “ Throughout the trial period, I watched the convict keenly as she wept which indicated that she is regretting her action and I noticed that she is very sober.

“She is to be kept in the custody of the Ataoja Police Station from where she should be coming to clean the premises of this court for seven days.

“The convict should report at 8 a.m and close at 4 p.m for the seven days and in the alternative, she should pay a fine of N300 for each of the seven count-charge brought against her.” (NAN)

*End*

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Boko Haram makes world terrorists list

Anti-terrorism experts met yesterday under aegis of the Global Counterterrorism Forum to discuss ways of preventing the financing of armed militant groups, focussing on north Africa’s Sahel desert region.

Intrestingly, Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for series of bombings in Nigeria was one of the groups discussed by the experts.

Manuel Lopez Blanco, coordinator for European Union strategy on the Sahel, said Al-Qaeda’s north African branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Boko Haram had a shared agenda and probably cooperated in training and operational tactics.

Experts from about 30 countries participated in the two-day forum, which was co-sponsored by Turkey and the United States. The closed meetings were chaired by Algeria and Canada. The Global Counterterrorism Forum is coordinated by Daniel Benjamin, an ambassador-at-large for the United States State Department. The forum held an initial meeting in Washington, where members of its justice group and special prosecutors convened two weeks ago.

Yesterday’s talks concentrated on the influence of (AQIM) one expert speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. AQIM, with an estimated 400 members, exploits the weakness of Sahel states such as Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger and operates freely on those countries’ terrain, the expert said.

He called for a global strategy in tackling the problems that can foment extremism, such as poverty and lagging development. The Sahel is an eight-million-square-kilometre (3.1-million-square-mile) area on the edge of the Sahara desert shared by several countries.

Delegates at the forum in the Algiers suburbs also spoke about the financing of terrorism, the expert said. Algeria, like the United States and other countries, reiterated the danger of kidnapping for ransom. The issue resurfaced recently with the October 23 snatching of two Spaniards and an Italian in southwestern Algeria.

Much of the forum centred on Libya, whose new government sent a representative to the conference.

Experts were concerned about the fate of the nomadic Tuareg people, who supported Moamer Gadhafi’s regime then returned to the Sahel after his overthrow in recent months.

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Bank Staff Shot Dead By Armed Robbers In Lagos

Suspected armed robbers this morning shot dead a driver working at Skye Bank Plc in his car at Olopomeji area of Iyana Oworonsoki, Lagos State, South West Nigeria.

The deceased identified through his identity card as Kamorudeen Akani was reportedly shot dead around 6.30 a.m. yesterday while going to work.

Witnesses said two women with the deceased in the Toyota Camry car with registration number LE NR 307 KJA at the time of the attack were unhurt

The women, it was learnt, were too shocked to comment on the killing of the driver.

Officials of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS were at the scene of the incident but the suspects had escaped.

A woman at the scene, who identified herself as Iya Lati described the incident as shocking, saying the deceased was shot several times in the chest, leaving him in a pool of blood.

The identity card found on him revealed that he lived at 8, Abosede Street, Giwa/Okearo, Ogun State but when sources got there, neighbours said he no longer lived there and that he had packed to another house.

A visit to 2 Oduduwa Street, Oke Aro where he packed to revealed that he was living alone. A neighbour disclosed that he was a former mechanic before he decided to seek employment in the bank.

“He was from Abeokuta, Ogun State and had three brothers living in Lagos. He was a nice fellow, very generous to people. I will miss him,” a neighbour who pleaded anonymity said.

At the headquarters of the bank at Falomo, Head, General Services Department of the bank who refused to disclosed his name said: “We are going to do what we can to give him a befitting burial.

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Bola Kuforiji Olubi Accuses House Girl Of Theft Of N8Million-Drags Her To Police Sation .

One of the domestic staffers of Otunba Ayora Bola Kuforiji Olubi, (Former minister and first woman chartered accountant in Nigeria) 23yr old Foluke Adeyemi, is in police net for an alleged theft of N8million and a collection of jewelry belonging to her boss. Olubi was said to have ordered the arrest and detention of Foluke three weeks ago after accusing her of the offense. The said Folake is now at Nigeria Police Force State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

More after the jump...



According to Mrs Kuforiji-Olubi: She is the only who has access to items declared missing.". However, those who privy to happenstances at the Otunba's Apapa household insist Foluke was unjustly accused and the lady, who had been working for Otunba for over two years, has been languishing in detention for more than the stipulated 48 hours.


All spirited efforts at securing her bail was frustrated. At some point, Folake was said to have contemplated suicide. Insiders claim Foluke is innocent of the matter.


According to sources, the melodrama started when Foluke wanted to quit as Otunba's domestic servant. It was then she was accused of stealing N300, 000 at the first instance. Later the amount was raised to N350, 000 and then to N8 million.


We were told that Foluke has been tortured in detention. A series of searches was conducted on her bags and room and no money or jewelry was found.

Sources say Foluke's arrest is not an isolated case. They claimed that some of the staffer of the former bank chief have also suffered the same fate, while leaving their job in Olubi's household.
"It's the same thing she did to other house girls. Immediately they signify their intention to leave the place, she (Otunba) will fake one allegation or the other and frame them up. That girl is innocent" our source insisted.


When we contacted Otunba's lawyer, he said: "What does Otunba stand to gain from witch hunting a house girl? Money and jewelry was missing, and she agreed she was the only one that had access. It is the police that are keeping the girl. No individual has the right to challenge the police on how to conduct their investigation. The lady was accused of theft and investigation is going on. If you think she needs to be released, let her relations charge the case to court, otherwise it is the police that will charge the matter to court after finalizing their investigation.

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