Social Affairs in Asir has called for the Shariah Court to resolve a dispute between two women in their early twenties and their father, who they charge with the accusation of “adl” – not allowing them to marry. Saeed Mousa Al-Shahrani, director of Social Affairs in Asir and head of the Social Protection Committee, has said that the Shariah Court should verify whether the father of Manal and Fatema, aged 22 and 21 respectively, is fit to parent them, and further noted that the issue has also arisen as a result of disputes between the father and the girls' estranged mother. Medical examiner Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Habshan of Social Protection Committee said the case also concerned domestic violence, and that Manal had been in Khamis Mushayt Hospital for four months following a head injury believed to have been intentionally caused by her younger brother at the instigation of her father. An elder brother of the women described their father as “retired and in excellent financial condition”, and said that the family was having “domestic problems.” The brother noted that his father had turned down several of the girls' suitors, and said that the Ministry of Social Affairs should intervene to resolve the issue.
