I was chained and starved...a picture of a child's tragedy that shook the world

An orphan picture of a Syrian child chained in chains has spread like wildfire recently, until her story reached all corners of the world, and it ran international media, including the New York Times, two days ago, to shed light on the tragedy of many children in refugee camps.

The story started from the Faraj Allah camp, north of the town of Kelly in Idlib, weeks ago, where the girl “Nahla Al-Othman” was living with her five sisters before she died.

Her death sparked outrage on the media, after her father accused her of imprisoning her in a cage and shackled her with metal chains.

Her death also caused an uproar in local and foreign public opinion due to the recent spread of her image while she was in chains, which led to the father's arrest and interrogation for two weeks.

Other reasons and arguments

On the other hand, the father, Essam Al-Othman, who was released from prison two days ago, denied the circulating stories about the torture and starvation of his daughter. "Nahla was suffering from neurological diseases, as well as skin ulcers, osteoporosis and bullous disease," he said.

He added, "The day before her death on May 6, Nahla ate a large amount of food, and she started vomiting, and the next morning, her older sister took her to the doctor's office at the nearby "international" hospital, so she underwent treatment and asked us to monitor her. And he continued, "After two hours we tried to feed her as the doctor ordered, but she was scattered with food and we tried to help her quickly and take her to the hospital again, where we were informed that her lungs had stopped, which required her immediate transfer to Turkey for treatment."

The father confesses.. I put her in a cage

As for the story of the iron cage in which he placed him inside the tent in which he resides with his wife after her mother’s divorce, and she does not leave it except in handcuffs, the father did not deny its existence, but he explained, “He brought it five days before the birth of his son from his second wife, and it became a residence for Nahla in order to restrict her movement.” During the night when she had a fit of nervousness, because the camp residents complained about her walking around naked.”

It is noteworthy that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had previously reported that the girl, who came from the town of Kafr Sajna in Idlib countryside, died after suffering from lack of food, abuse by her father, handcuffing and imprisoning her in a cage, which led to her suffering from hepatitis, and other diseases after starvation, to die after being rescued. to a hospital in the area.

accusing his ex-wife

But the father confirmed that he was innocent, accusing his ex-wife of being involved in the media campaign that was launched against him because of Nahla's death. As he said, "she is claiming lies and went to Turkey four years ago and she is still on my name, leaving behind eight children."

He also added, "It is not permissible to blame the man for every incident that occurs with one of his sons. The mother also makes mistakes, which is what happened to me, and I ask that the necessary measures be taken against her because she is responsible for what happened with me and with my children who she refuses to keep with her."