Palestinian Woman Locked in a Bathroom for Ten Years

A 21-year-old Palestinian woman has been rescued from a horrible situation. Palestinian Police are reporting that Baraa Melhem has been locked in the bathroom by her father for more than 10 years. He supposedly would only let her out in the middle of the night for a short time to clean the house.

When Melhem was asked by one of the social workers dealing with her case after she was rescued why her father would do this to her. Melhem said her father would simply tell her “People are monsters.”

Palestinian police said they were alerted to her situation by an anonymous tip and when they went to her father’s house in Kalkilya they found the girl in the tiny bathroom. Her father is an Israeli citizen and was turned over to the Israeli police. He is due in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

Melhem told Voice of Palestine radio that after her father had divorced her mother, when Melhem was 11, he put her in the bathroom and secured her in there with a chain.

Social worker Hala Shreim told the same station that Melhem was beaten with metal wires and a baton while enduring her time in the bathroom. She was only given a single blanket for warmth. According to Shreim, the bathroom was only 1-1/2 meters (five square feet) big, it was like a cell. The only thing she was fed during this time was bread.

Palestinian Police said the man admitted to keeping his daughter in the bathroom and the reason was a “family dispute”

In addition to the torture of being in the bathroom Melhem said her father would shave her head and eyebrows and only let her take a shower once a month. She was unchained and let out of the bathroom from 1am-4am to clean the house. Melhem’s father would talk to her during that time and tell her that she should commit suicide because this was the best life was going to get for her.

Her father let her have a radio which was her only way of even knowing what day it was or what time.

Melhem is being cared for by her mother at this point and being completely overseen by social workers.

What do you think Israeli courts should do to Baraa Melhem’s father?

Watch this video to hear more about Baraa Melhem