A father who allegedly subjected his daughter to violent beatings in an attempt to force her to marry the man of his choice was denied bail after protesting his innocence in court. 

The 43-year-old Syrian national, who had fled war-torn Syria and relocated his family to Malta, was arrested after his 15-year-old daughter’s call for help.

Two days ago, officers at the police control room had been alerted to the minor’s plight after the girl had tried to reach out to a person on Facebook.

Acting upon suspicion of a potential case of abuse, the vice squad sought to locate the girl, soon managing to track down the minor’s family and their residence.

When they turned up at the family home, it was the minor herself who opened the door, visibly bruised.

“Help me please, help me,” the girl pleaded, showing the police officers the bruises on her hands and other parts of her body. 

The suspect victim was entrusted to Appoġġ, but not before recounting her ordeal and the repeated beatings allegedly suffered at the hands of her father, who was bent on forcing her into an arranged marriage. 

One day, she was heavily beaten for venturing outdoors to take out the garbage without putting on her hijab. 

On that occasion, the physical violence was disproportionate, explained prosecuting Inspector John Spiteri, who said that the girl had suffered head injuries.

The father was tracked down and arrested.

He was escorted to court on Thursday, pleading not guilty to causing his daughter to fear violence, subjecting her to acts of cruelty, threatening and slightly injuring her, inflicting excessive punishment and attempting to force her into an arranged marriage. 

He was further charged with breaching bail. 

A request for bail was strongly objected to since investigations were still ongoing and there was a “clear and real fear” of tampering with evidence. 

In fact, once the minor had been taken into custody, police had sought to contact the third party named as her prospective husband. 

But, for some reason, the man’s mobile was currently switched off.

Moreover, the accused had already breached an earlier bail decree, the prosecution argued, pointing out that another child of the accused, a son, had fled his family home and had gone to the police for help. 

Defence counsel Peter Paul Zammit countered that the minor was suffering from post-traumatic syndrome, after fleeing her homeland, travelling to Turkey, then Greece before finally settling down in Malta. 

“Her father could not beat his children even if he meant to, since he works seven days a week,” said the legal counsel.

Moreover, there was some fighting between the numerous siblings and some of the girl’s injuries were self-inflicted, Zammit went on, prompting Spiteri to rebut that the father had, in fact, prevented his daughter from taking prescribed medicine for her psychological problems, so that she could get pregnant as soon as she married. 

Upon hearing these submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, observed that such crimes of honour were not tolerated in Malta, a country based on the rule of law. 

It was not permissible in society to force a choice of clothes, nor to impose a chosen spouse, said Magistrate Mifsud, pointing out that in Malta every person had the right to marry the person he or she loved.

The court intervened when laws were breached, to ensure that life was protected from conception, went on Magistrate Mifsud, citing an article on gender-based violence which states that such abuse could “end, in some extreme cases in suicide or murder”.

The court denied bail and remanded the father in custody, ordering a ban on all names.