A woman has demanded exhumation of her father's body 18 years after his death to collect genetic information, match it with samples from her and her stepbrother and confirm that the man was their father. The woman, identified only as Amira B., said her Saudi father married her Egyptian mother in 1979. Two months into her pregnancy, the man returned to the Kingdom. Following Amira's birth, her mother sent messages to her father to inform him about her birth, but there was no response, she added. After three years, he divorced Amira's mother, who got married to another Saudi man and came with him to the Kingdom, Amira said. Her mother tried to prove that her first husband was Amira's father and that she was related to her stepbrothers, but while they refused to recognize her, she went to court and obtained recognition by one stepbrother. Amira related her struggle to resolve the matter. “After coming to the Kingdom, I applied for Saudi citizenship, but the official authorities demanded an identification letter from the sheikh of the tribe, who demanded the presence of all my brothers, but they refused,” she recounted. “I returned to Egypt and came once more to the Kingdom. According to my brother's advice, I submitted a petition at the police station demanding confirmation of my parenthood, but they referred my dossier to the Anti-beggary Administration and I was imprisoned for one year and nine months. “After my release from prison, the police informed me about an order to deport me so I was deported to Egypt, where I got married. In 2006, I got a laissez passé from the Saudi Embassy. When I visited the Civil Status Department to prove my case, I learned that my stepbrother had canceled all the earlier documents and accused me and my mother of forgery. He obtained an accusation decision from the Control and Investigation Board that we have forged Shariah documents, so I now demand DNA tests.” Dr. Khalid Marghalani, Spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said matching genetic fingerprint to prove parenthood is the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior and that the Ministry of Health has no involvement with these matters. __
