Saudi rights group identifies father in child abuse video

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has identified the father of the five children who were videotaped being flogged by a stick. The video went viral on social networking sites.

The nearly 3-minute-long clip shows a man, who appears to be in his 30s, violently flogging five children without any concern for their cries. A woman can be heard in the background pleading with the man to stop beating the children.

The public relations manager at HRC, Mohammad Al-Madi, said the father contacted the HRC and explained that he was simply disciplining his children. “A team from the HRC visited the family and found they were a very normal and settled family and there was no reason to be alarmed,” he said.

The head of the HRC, Bandar Al-Aiban, contacted the father and informed him that his way of disciplining children is wrong and suggested non-violent means.

(This article was first published in Saudi Gazette on Jan. 18, 2014)