Palestinian girl locked in bathroom for 11 years

"For eleven years, my only connection to the outside world was through listening to the radio, I feel like a baby just out of her mother's womb." These were the first words uttered by Bara'a, a Palestinian girl from Qalqilia, after she was allowed out of the bathroom in which she was imprisoned for 11 years by her father. She was only allowed out for housework. When Bara'a was four, her parents split and her mother took custody of her brother, leaving her with her father. They stayed in the village of Nabi Ilyas. She soon started school but in a few years her father decided to stop sending her to school because he believed it to be a "bad influence." She refused to agree with her father's decision, and ran away to the neighbouring village of Ezbat Al-Tabib. Her father then complained to the police, who soon found her. Bara'a was then made to sign a pledge not to ask to return to school again. When she returned home, her father locked her up, even after moving to the city of Qalqilia. Bara'a's aunt aided in her rescue. She had earlier demanded to see the girl, but was refused. When she got worried, the aunt decided to go to the police and social workers in Qalqilia, and tell them her story. Finally, at 9am last Thursday, Palestinian police broke into the house and asked to open the bathroom. They then freed Bara'a and arrested the father. The father, who holds Israeli nationality, was then handed to Israeli authorities and is now under detention. The police are suspicious that his second wife was aware of Bara'a being imprisoned throughout this period. Bara'a, whose name ironically translates to "innocence", said: "If it was up to me, I would have asked for him to be placed in a bathroom under the ground, without seeing the light of day for 11 years, and without food."  The girl didn't suffer just suffer from imprisonment: "I was beaten and humiliated by my father and my body is full of bruises. Even my hair was repeatedly shaved by a razor blade," she explained. After divorcing her mother, Bara'a's father married a woman with Israeli nationality and lived in Qalqilia for more than ten years. He was then granted Israeli citizenship.   Palestinian police stated that the father claimed he had not locked his daughter, but the lack of space in their home led him to force her to live in the bathroom. He used to let her out for two hours a day.