The son was kept off school to hide the marks of the severe violence and abuse.
A Palestinian couple – the father (49) and mother (42) – have been charged in Oslo District Court with severe abuse of their four children. According to the indictment, the children were beaten with a belt, slippers and a bottle, and shown videos intended to frighten them into keeping quiet about the conditions at home.
The abuse is alleged to have taken place from the summer of 2012 until 2 October 2019, in Romerike, Oslo, Palestine and Jordan. The family is Palestinian, according to Documents’ sources.
The children – one boy and three girls – ranged in age from newborn to 14 years old during the period covered by the indictment.
According to the indictment, they were struck with an open hand on the face and body, and with a belt, slippers, a bottle, a clothes hanger and a brush. They are alleged to have been pulled by the ears, tugged by the hair, pinched and shoved. Two of the daughters are said to have had their hair grabbed and their heads banged together. One of them is said to have been struck or shoved into a wall and a patio door.
The son is said to have been struck with a fist, a belt and a wooden handle, thrown against the wall, shaken and had his head slammed against the wall. He is said to have been subjected to violence whilst naked, whilst others watched. His parents are alleged to have kept him home from school to hide the marks, and they woke him up at night to shout at him and beat him.
When he was at nursery or in Year 1, he is alleged to have been struck in the left eye. According to the indictment, he is still affected by the injury.
The boy is said to have been called ‘dog’, ‘animal’ and ‘bitch’. His mother is said to have said ‘just wait until Dad comes home’ or similar. He is also said to have been threatened with being sent back to his home country, and with his mother taking her own life if he told anyone about the conditions at home.
All four children are said to have been shown videos “presumably by child protection services”. According to the indictment, the content was intended to scare them into not saying anything to outsiders.
The three daughters are also said to have been subjected to sexual abuse and violence by family members, without their parents intervening to protect them. The indictment does not specify which family members are involved.
The father is alleged to have punched a hole in the bathroom door whilst his son watched, and to have punched a hole in a wall. In a fit of rage, he is also alleged to have banged his own head against a door, causing a hole in the door and leaving him bleeding. All the children are said to have witnessed their father committing acts of violence against their mother.
The parents have been charged under Section 283 of the Penal Code concerning serious abuse in close relationships, and under the corresponding section of the old Penal Code for the period prior to October 2015. Both are charged both with having committed violence themselves and with having failed to stop the other’s abuse.
The maximum sentence is six years’ imprisonment. The Public Prosecutor also refers to Section 79(a) of the Penal Code, which allows for an increased penalty where a person has committed multiple offences. The prosecution reserves the right to seek a restraining order and compensation for the children.
The period of abuse covered by the indictment spans more than seven years. For the youngest daughter, it began on the day she was born.
