Friday, August 10, 2007

Bader, where are you?

I can't even imagine what the mother of this little Bader must be going through. If my child came up missing.... I really think I'd lose control of everything.

I get angry and terribly sad at the same time when I think about the situation. Here the mother left the kids alone, which shouldn't have been done, and the older brother went inside to watch TV, then the child disappears. And from what I read in the paper a while back, they didn't even realize that he was missing until something like 7:30 in the evening. Which is even worse.

There should be some type of alert system here.... like the Amber Alert in the U.S. We get a lot of abductions in the U.S.... from pedophiles and killers... so they created this alert on this little girl's (Amber) behalf. She was abducted and killed. No one reacted fast enough to find her, so now, when a child comes up missing, the Amber Alert is sounded w/ radio stations broadcasting it and such so that there's a better chance of finding the child.

But would something like this work here? Do the cops care? Do they care about anything, matter of fact. A reward was put up.... but so far nothing.

Where was the father during all of this? They say he works in Saudi as a taxi driver... has anyone wondered if he took the child there... ?? Has anyone checked?

The one thought that I don't dare think about is the possibility of child predators being in Bahrain. Irregardless of the crime here, Bahrain is still very safe for children. They can play outside alone, walk on the streets w/ their siblings, get lost in a supermarket or wonder off from their parents... and ppl don't have to worry about someone taking them. This, I call safe.

Unless this little Bader was taken or something. How sad that I think it would be better that something else happened to him... like it would be so much better.... but in all actuality, it would be. If abductions and the likes start happening here w/ little children.... it is seriously time to worry.

12 comments:

Olivia said...

This sounds all too similar to the case of Madeleine McCann, the little British girl abducted from her hotel room in Portugal 3 months ago. Big news over here.

Sad thing is, her parents left her and her baby brother alone and went out. Added to that, the local police faffed about for two days. Everyone knows the first 24 hrs are crucial!

One example that stands out is the road blocks they finally got around to, to carry out vehicle searches. There's footage of one road where it stsrted to drizzle, the police went and sat in their cars while all these unmarked vans with darkened windows passed by unnoticed...

Olivia said...

Imust add, of course, the parents are to blame for leaving her in the first place, but that must be beside the point once a child's life is at stake.

Anonymous said...

What i wonder about is,when you hear older ppl say "their was non of that years ago" when talking about peado's and weirdo's or was their? and it just never got talked about?It must be an absolute nightmare for the parents of a missing child.

The Moody Minstrel said...

I swear this must be a world epidemic. Child abduction was never something you heard about here in Japan until near the turn of the century. Now we often hear reports, not just on the news but from schools in our area, of children being sexually harassed by strangers (usually middle-aged men) if not attempted abductions. There have also been some pretty famous abduction/murder cases during the past few years. Now most if not all campuses here are in a state of lockdown during school hours, and parents patrol routes children take to and from school.

Ten years ago that would have been unthinkable.

I have to wonder why this is happening all over. Is it psychological corruption via the internet or organic brain damage (or hypnosis) from all those wireless devices?

salfa3ajeeba said...

hope they find him soon safe and sound yaa raab

Just Jane said...

In my area there are billboards (big road signs for you non-US folk) that say, "A lost child is everyone's child". I think that is every parents' worst nightmare.

I can't believe it took the US so long to set up the Amber Alert system and that every country does not have one. In the past three months I know of six local children who were quickly and safely recovered because of the fast news bulletins of their abductions.

However I believe it is beyond naive to think your young children are safe alone anywhere in the world. Statistics would say that there are child predators everywhere and I don't doubt it. People must wake up and realize the world is not what it once was.

Aside from predators, rapists, murderers there are other dangers for children. In my state and the neighboring states there have been more accidental child deaths this year than I care to count. Kids wander off alone, fall into water, drown, get lost in the woods and die from exposure...terrible awful things happen. It doesn't take long either.

I desperately hope this little boy is found safe and returned to his family. I have no doubt that they will be more vigilant in the future.

Seroo said...

It's heart breaking everytime I think of Bader, I can't even comprehend why anyone would do such a thing... Bahrain may be a relatively safe country but it's no different than other places in the world where these things can happen and you can't deny it... The country's had a wake up call and now people will be far more careful with their children - I can only imagine how Bader's family must feel...

Another thing is, it is scary how Bader's abduction happened weeks after Madeline McCann's - which is still being broadcasted over the world... And from then, it's been story after story of child abductions being broadcasted through the media... My SIL struck a chord with me when talking about Maddy's disappearance, telling me that her parents have now lost their daughter over a "lousy dinner"... And that must be the worst feeling in the world - I hope Bader, Maddy and all the other kids who have been taken away from their parents are returned to their families and have suffered no harm...

Anonymous said...

very sad.. yesterday i saw Bader's picture behind one of the food delivery motorbikes.. may he come back safely to his parents! :(

poetic muslim said...

how was it like for you as an american to live in bahrain ? especialy with all the different cultural differences ....
in terms of child rearing and the way children are treated

Um Naief said...

olivia, nowadays, i don't really trust anyone. i would never allow a stranger to hold my child, even here. some ppl are way too friendly to strangers... especially children who've never learned to fear for a bad reason. i hope that this little Bader is w/ his father and something bad hasn't happened.

it's been on the news here as well. i watched it. i immediately felt anger towards her family, that's probably why i never posted about it. but w/ what you're saying, the police have a lot to account for as well. the thought of them sitting in their cars as to not get wet... well, that blows my mind. and i agree w/ you... the first 24 hrs are so crucial. i can't imagine how her parents must feel... knowing that it happened while they were at dinner.

gazza, i think there were cases years ago, but ppl didn't talk about it. maybe it was more shameful or something... or maybe it wasn't happening. i do feel for the ppl this happens to... i can't imagine it.

moody, you know, i've wondered the same stuff. i personally think that child pornography and such has escalated since the internet age. nowadays, the things they have online for ppl that do that sort of thing, it leaves me speechless. have you heard about this org. in the u.s., or actually it has members around the world, and it's called something weird like 'lovemanchild' or something... i can't remember. i saw a show about it on oprah not so long ago. it's all about hooking grown men, elderly men even, up w/ young boys. and it's legal... they get around the issues somehow... or maybe this was on dr. phil. it's disgusting and really... bad things should happen to ppl who do this stuff. btw, i never hear about japan in the news on this type of stuff. interesting to hear what you have to say and to hear what's happening there. i think there must be some world epidemic as well... seriously, something has gone drastically wrong w/ the whole social structure.

jane, OMG... six local children! it's scary how much this stuff happens in the states. let me ask you - off point - but have you ever looked online to see what sexual predators live in your area. i did that once when i lived in plano, and was astounded. it's very scary. there are accidental deaths here as well. ppl drive w/out car seats... no seatbelts for the children - they stand up in the cars and you hear all sorts of bad things, but it keeps happening. also, the way the court treats ppl who do this is laughable here. they get off for raping someone or a child for like BD100, which is nothing. or the family dismisses the case or they don't admit it's happening and such... i just hope that we don't start hearing about more children missing. ppl should take it seriously. my SIL didn't even know anything about it. i wonder how many other bahrainis don't know anything about it. and she's a teacher.

seroo, do you really think ppl will be more careful? do you know how many times i've been at the mall and a child has been lost and crying and security is desperately searching for their parents. too many times. i've seen little children walking on the street alone - too small to be out alone - and you hear about little kids getting hit by cars when they try to cross a busy street. i think there's a certain group of ppl who this will not affect, but a large group that will be affected by it. i only hope that they will filter down the information and make more ppl aware and take notice of what's going on. something really needs to happen....

msb, every time i go to the coldstore, i see a sign w/ his picture. i see it on fences... the drs. office... so many places. i just really wonder what happened to him. it's so sad.

poetic muslim, oh dear... this would take me a year to answer! ;) actually, i have many posts here about all the stresses i've encountered w/ respect to this. but... i will say, little by little it's getting better. i see that as hope. :) i'm waiting for ramadan.. .this will be a true test for me. i will ad though, it's good for many reasons but also has its negatives. it just depends on the day :)

Olivia said...

Regarding your checking for child predators in Plano - yes, I did that once when we were living in The Woodlands. Because in the US the list is accessible through the local gov websites. And there was one at the far end of our street in a cul de sac - and I immediately thought of the three very young kids our neighbour, a psychologist, had. He and his wife would let the kids play without supervision on the street ALL day...

And he had the NERVE to stare rather rudely as he drove by in his open top car, while I stood on the driveway hugging my Dad goodbye once.

Um Naief said...

olivia, you know, this guy prob didn't even know there was a child predator at the end of his road... prob thinking that his knowledge alone could protect his children.

i think they should play the shame game here and show pictures of such ppl or give their names. ppl get off way too easily for committing crimes against children, and families all too often turn a blind eye because it's shameful. but it scars you forever.

i really hope and pray that this little bader didn't fall prey to such, but w/ all the different nationalities living here and coming from bad situations in a lot of cases, i'd venture to say that there are the likes here.