Manama, September 27: Women inmates of Dar Al Aman shelter have alleged the abuse and torture at the hands of the administrative officials at a special gathering organised by the Batelco Care Centre for Family Violence on Friday night. They complained that the shelter administration harassed them by providing expired food, restricting their movement, no allowances and threatened to kick them out of the premises.
Some of the inmates claimed to be kicked out while others said that theyvoluntarily walked out due to alleged ill-treatment.
The centre is owned by the government but run by a civic society. It provides temporary accommodation to victims of domestic violence and distressed women regardless of their nationality.
Bahraini Fatima Ebrahim, 24, one of the victims, said that she was literally out on the roads after being allegedly asked to leave the government shelter and that too on the last day of Ramadan. “The officials kicked me out with my three children. I have no place to go and I am paying the price like several other women who are maltreated by the shelter staff and ignorance by the Ministry of Social Development,” she said.
“They did not provide me with diapers for my kids, soaps and foodstuff. When I asked them they bluntly told me to leave the shelter and threatened to shift my children to another social centre meant for beggars. They want to pocket all the donations from charities,” said Ebrahim who now temporarily lives in a rented accommodation in Juffair with her children. Her testimonies was backed by two former female staff — Sameera Mansoor and Haya Jassim working at the Tubli shelter, who too confirmed aggressive and care-free approach by the officials.
Khaleej Times contacted on Saturday Huda Al Mahmood, consultant-in-charge of Dar Al Aman shelter who said that she was aware of the allegations by the group of women. “Everyone has their right to expression and we support this. But the allegations by Fatima and other women are baseless. We at the shelter take care of all the women and their children. All of them who first approach us have to sign an agreement which states the maximum duration of their stay is three weeks,” she said.
The official said that they sympathised with all the women but highlighted that at the end of the day, they were a social care centre with limited resources. She said in Fatima’s case, she refused to live with her family. “We have requested her on several occasions to return to her mother and two brothers. Our shelter is for abused women and support everyone regardless of their nationalities,” the centre in-charge stressed. When asked about allegations by Fatima of cutting down supply of daily foodstuff and diapers, Al Mahmood said that the Bahraini was well-off and receiving donations from several charity organisations.
“She is in the last month of her pregnancy and has a disturbing personality. We have registered a case at our Child Protection Committee of physical violence, as she often beats her children while she stayed at the shelter,” she said. She added that they were always ready to help anyone who approached them and sympathised with the group of women despite facing false allegations. The centre, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East, has a team of special staff consisting doctors, legal advisors and other experts who carry out preliminary investigation after the women signs the contract and fulfils the admission conditions such as they should be free of contagious diseases and mental illness.
–Agencies