Woman Locked in Bathroom 10 Years by Dad

A 20-year-old Palestinian woman has been freed after spending 10 years locked in bathrooms and other small rooms by her father, reports AP. There, she was beaten, fed little, and let out only at night. Her father threatened to rape, impregnate, and kill her if she tried to escape. The woman, Baraa Melhem, says she survived by listening to the radio, especially current events and programs about mental health, and dreaming of the sunshine. "Fear, fear, fear—that was the basis of my life," she said.

Melhem's father, an Arab man of Israeli citizenship, locked her in a bathroom after she ran away at the age of 10. He beat her regularly and let her out only at night so she could clean the house. "I don't hate my father. But I hate what he did to me. Why did he do it? I don't understand," she said. Melhem's father and stepmother have been arrested and were not available for comment. "I have joy now. My life has begun," said Melhem. (More Israel stories.)