Baraa Melhem, Palestinian Woman locked in Bathroom for 10 Years by Father

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/baraa-melhem-palestine-woman-locked-bathroom_n_1224194.html
Reuters, Huffington Post

By Jihan Abdalla

RAMALLAH, Jan 23 (Reuters) - A 21-year-old Palestinian woman has told authorities she was locked in a bathroom for the past decade by her father, who let her out only in the dead of night so she could clean their house.

"People are monsters," Baraa Melhem said her father would tell her, according to a social worker dealing with the case.

Palestinian police said on Monday they freed Melhem from the small bathroom of a home in the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Saturday after an anonymous tip.

Her father, who holds Israeli citizenship, was arrested and handed over to Israeli authorities. He is due to appear in an Israeli court on Wednesday, an Israeli police spokesman said.