The school principal admitted that his brother had locked up his sister without his knowledge, saying that she was mentally ill and he feared for her life, but the brother has denied the charge. Their sister says that they both took part motivated by greed for her inheritance. An inspector for the prosecutor found that the woman suffers an 80% disability in her fingers and hands and that she cannot move her fingers because of serious atrophy of her hand muscles.

The two brothers locked Sakina in a basement no larger than four square meters after she sold her share of the family inheritance and put the money in the bank. The victim, in her 50s, spent five years of her life without seeing the light, according to the Egyptian al-Ahram.

During these years, Sakina slept on a straw mat and was forced to urinate like a cat, using her fingernails to dig a hole and then cover it up. Sakina was saved from certain death by a complaint from an anonymous woman, which prompted provincial security authorities to launch a search. The victim said that her brothers bound her with chains used with livestock, causing spastic paralysis to her limbs.

Source: www.almalaf.net

August 27, 2008