Rudeina Malaeb Accuses Rabih al-Ahmed of Deceiving her, Says his Story Fabricated
Rudeina Malaeb, a Druze woman who married a Sunni man who was attacked by her angry family, said on Saturday that Rabih al-Ahmed deceived her to marry him.
“Everything that Rabih said is fabricated... He tried to assault me several times,” Rudeina, 20, told LBCI, in her first appearance since Rabih's penis was cut off in the Aley town of Baisour two days ago.
Rudeina expressed hope that justice would take its course.
Rabih and Rudeina met on Facebook and were married by a Sunni sheikh in July, against the wishes of the bride's family.
Marriage between members of the Druze community and non-Druze are extremely rare and officially banned by the religious group, which is present in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the West Bank.
For his part, 39-year-old Rabih, who is currently being treated at a hospital, stressed that he didn't force Rudeina into marriage.
He pointed out that her family lured him to Baisour under the pretext of a reconciliation meeting.
“I was brutally beaten up by seven men for half an hour, then I was dragged to the town's square where they cut off my penis,” al-Ahmed told LBCI.
He said that seven men were accomplices in the assault, two of them work for MP Akram Shehayeb.
The attackers, who include the two brothers of Rudeina, one of them a soldier, remain at large
Al-Ahmed revealed that his wife, Rudeina, tried to commit suicide before over her older brother's acts, demanding the arrest of all the culprits and the return of his wife to him.
Caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said that the judiciary will not hesitate to carry out its duties.
“The offenders will be arrested,” he added.
Even beyond the Druze community, intermarriage between Lebanon's 18 religious communities remain uncommon.
The country was ravaged by a civil war that pitted many of its religious communities against each other between 1975 and 1990.
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