A mother's misery

THE night before her son vanished, Sakeena Kanan Ali Al Mulla gave her three-year-old son Bader his dinner, bathed him and put him to bed.

She had no idea that this everyday experience of normality would become engrained in her memory ... perhaps never to be repeated.

The next day she had an appointment for an X-ray in Salmaniya Medical Complex, so she left the house while he was sleeping with her husband around 10.30am.

Her elderly mother was at home alongside Bader's 10-year-old brother Ali and she had no reason to think Bader would be at risk. When she came back around 2pm he was not in the house and when she asked Ali about him he said that he and Bader had just returned home after walking to a cold store nearby.

While Ali stayed in the house watching television, Bader left to play in front of the house.

The family started looking for him, asked neighbours if anyone had spotted him and called the police for help.

Bader's family is living in temporary accommodation in Samaheej under the directives from the Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to rebuild their house which was listed for improvements.

Mrs Al Mulla's Saudi husband Jawad, 58, a part-time taxi driver, is currently living in Saudi Arabia with his second wife and children.

Mrs Al Mulla, has seven children, five from a previous marriage, and said her youngest son used to accompany her wherever she went.

"Bader never leaves my sight, wherever I go, he goes. That day he was asleep and I didn't feel like waking him and ruining his nap, so I thought I will leave him in the house and come back as soon as possible. Now I wish that I had taken him with me," she said.

"Bader was a very shy and quiet person but was a fun boy and loved to smile and play with his brothers and sisters. We all pray that he comes back to us."

Mohammed Waheed Abdulla, Mrs Al Mulla's eldest son from her previous marriage said some people have been abusive to them.

"My mother has gone through a lot and instead of supporting her some of the neighbours came to her and blamed her for what happened to Bader. They told her that it was her fault that he had disappeared.

"There were others who would see us on the street and instead of asking about my brother they mock us about the house the Premier ordered to be rebuilt for us as if it was more important to us than Bader," he said.

Mohammed said his mother went through a lot in her life, and added: "I don't know how my mother has survived all the tragedies she has seen in her life.

"As a single woman she lived with a mother and two of her sisters who had mental problems. She married my father and after years of marriage she got divorced and then she married her current husband who is living most of the time in Saudi Arabia with his other family and now her son is missing."

Mohammed said that the police are still looking for Bader.

"The Interior Ministry has done their best to find my brother but unfortunately they couldn't trace him so far, but they are still looking and we are not losing hope and trying our best to bring him back to his family."