http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article62978.ece
Mother forces her children to steal By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWS Published: Jun 8, 2010 23:22 Updated: Jun 8, 2010 23:22 MAKKAH: Residents of Makkah have been left shocked following news that a naturalized Saudi woman forced her five children to steal from malls and supermarkets. Details of the woman and her children came to light after her husband took the couple's children to a hospital for psychiatric help and threatened to take her to court. The father, who asked for his name not to be published, told Arab News that he only learned what his wife was forcing his children to do after they refused to obey her and told him. "She was forcing them to steal and then blackmailing them into complying with her orders. When they stopped doing what she was telling them to do, she came to me and told me that they were thieves," said the man. "I was furious and reprimanded them. They then broke down and told me that it was their mother who was making them steal. I realized that I had been deceived by her and then took my children for psychological treatment," he added. The man also expressed remorse that he was oblivious to what had been going on for so many years. His eldest son, Nizar, 16, told Arab News that his mother had been involved in some very disturbing activities for several years. "She's been in relationships with other men. She would leave us alone when we were out and go off with her male friends," he said. He added that when he threatened to tell his father, his mother said she would tell him that he was a shoplifter. "I had to succumb to what she was saying and carry on," he said. The man's daughter, Sahar, said that when she refused to steal her mother changed tactics and asked her to cover her while she stole herself. "She would also visit apartments where she would leave me alone in a room and go off with other men in other rooms," she said. The man's other son, Majdi, 13, said his mother taught him and his nine-year-old brother how to steal. "She stitched hidden pockets in our clothes and taught us how to steal. She used to tell us we weren't doing anything wrong as these shops actually belonged to our grandparents," he said. "We used to go out with my mother in the early afternoon and return with lots of stuff late at night," he added. The man's youngest daughter, seven-year-old Rinad, said her mother told her to cry loudly if she was ever caught. "I was once caught red-handed. I immediately started crying and the shopkeeper let me go. He took back what I had taken and didn't call the police," she said. Dr. Rajab Brisali, a psychiatrist at Hira Hospital, said the authorities should make the woman undergo examination by psychiatrists who specialize in criminology at Taif Mental Hospital. "Children can be subject to all sorts of mental problems when their mothers ignore their duties as role models and guides," he added. He also said that if these children are not properly treated they might end up suffering from mental illnesses, such as depression, when they grow older. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
