Nightmare continues for children rescued from abusive orphanage

After orphanage manager Osama Othman was sentenced to three years in prison in September for child abuse, allegations have surfaced that the children who were rescued from his care are still being mistreated at another facility.

Abu Bakr Naeem, who lives in front of the Al-Obour House for Child Care in Obour City, claims that management there is subjecting the children to the same abuse they received at the now-closed Mecca Orphanage months ago.

Naeem told Mada Masr that since the children were moved into Al-Obour House, he heard them scream on a daily basis, sounds that are at times accompanied by shouts of a manager trying to silence them, or the sounds of a beating and cries for help.

“Two days ago, the screaming was so loud that my parents went out to the orphanage to ask for an explanation. The same manager met them and told them that it was a misunderstanding, and that he will bring one of the kids to make sure everything is ok. My parents, of course, saw none of the kids,” Naeem said.

The family then called the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood (NCMC) hotline to submit an official complaint. They also called the Obour police station, but received no response, according to Naeem.

“On Thursday at 9 pm, we saw one of the orphanage’s managers taking one child outside the house. It is abnormal that they take children out late at night. They did that after we notified them that we called the police,” he explained.

After the manager of the Mecca Orphanage was found guilty on abuse charges, Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly and NCMC’s General Coordinator Azza Ashmawy jointly supervised the transfer of the children to a new care facility, which belongs to the Belgium-based FACE for Children in Need.

The Social Solidarity Ministry has not been notified of Naeem’s claims, according to Kamal al-Sherif, the heady of Waly’s office. He told Mada Masr that he would look into the incident.

The child abuse perpetuated at Mecca Orphanage came to light after a video of Othman beating the children went viral online in early August.

Othman’s wife filmed him with a wooden rod in his hand as he beat, slapped, kicked and cursed at seven children residing at the orphanage. Footage showed the victims crying, holding themselves in pain and trying to run away.

The video provoked an outcry particularly because the orphanage was under the Social Solidarity Ministry’s supervision. Local media outlets referred to it as the “Orphanage of Torture,” and blamed the ministry for failing to prevent abuse within its network of child care facilities.

“I was told that my appeal reached Dr. Ashmawy, I hope this is true. Those kids already suffered previously, and instead of receiving proper psychological treatment, they are being beaten again in the same conditions they suffered from before. This is unfair,” Naeem said.

Ashmawy, security officials and FACE representatives in Belgium and the United Kingdom were all not available for comment.

In a press statement published by the NCMC in August, Ashmawy praised the level of care and support the abused children were receiving at the new care facility. Ashmawy claimed they were receiving the medical and therapeutic support they needed to recover from the trauma.