Beduin found chained to wall in village near Arad

A beduin man was found to be in poor condition after being held captive for several years.

BEDUIN BOYS walk toward the ‘unrecognized’ village of Um Al-Hiram in the Negev. (photo credit: REUTERS)
BEDUIN BOYS walk toward the ‘unrecognized’ village of Um Al-Hiram in the Negev.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Police discovered a 43-year-old Beduin man, chained, in a tin shack in the Beduin village of al-Forah, located near Arad in the Negev, on Tuesday.
Police arrived at the village to evacuate members of the unrecognized Beduin village for demolition, as the buildings were built without permits. However, after the demolitions, one officer heard shrieking from a cluster of shacks and was shocked to discover a naked man shackled to a wall with iron chains.
“A police officer guarding the ruins of the al-Forah area, near Route 80, heard a cry from a shantytown complex. The officer approached the scene, opened the door and found a man with no clothes tied with iron chains to the wall,” police said.
According to police, the man said he has been held captive for many years; his claim is currently under investigation. An initial police investigation revealed that the man’s family allegedly held him captive for throwing stones at children.
Magen David Adom arrived on the scene and administered medical treatment to the man, who was then transferred to the Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba for treatment.
According to MDA medical technician Ibrahim al-Aasm, the man was found to be fully conscious but in poor condition. “When we got there, our police forces led us to a number of barracks, and in of them we saw a man who was about 43 and was fully conscious, neglected, skinny and dirty,” he said. “Together with the police, we rescued the man and we gave him medical treatment and evacuated him to the hospital in stable condition,” Aasm said, as reported by Channel 10.