Murder of Yaseen Ege

Yaseen Ege was a seven-year-old Asian Muslim boy beaten to death by his mother, Sara Ege, at their home in Cardiff, in the United Kingdom, in July 2010, for failing to memorise passages from the Koran. In the months preceding his death, Yaseen was routinely beaten with a stick and various other implements. On the day he died, Yaseen sustained severe abdominal injuries and multiple fractures. Sara then burnt her son's body in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Though it was initially thought Yaseen had died in a fire, police later arrested Sara; she was convicted of [...] and received a minimum 17 years' jail sentence.

Prolonged abuse

Yaseen was taught the Koran before and after school at a mosque because his parents desired that he become a hafiz. His mother said that Yaseen's memorization of the entire Koran would have brought honour and increased the family's standing in the local community. Sara became frustrated with her son's inability to memorise tracts of the Koran, and for several months before his death, Yaseen was beaten with a stick, a hammer, a wooden pestle and was repeatedly punched. On occasion he was unable to write or sit down, and he suffered internal injuries. Sara Ege told police officers, "I was getting more and more frustrated. If he didn’t read it properly I would be very angry – I would hit him." Yassen was allegedly locked in a shed and tied to a door as punishment for failing at his studies. After Yaseen started school, teachers became concerned about his well-being on a few occasions. One teacher observed that Yaseen's handwriting was untidy and that he was using his left hand rather than his right one. Yaseen explained that his hand hurt because his mother had struck him with a ruler.

Death

On the day of his death, Sara kept her son at home from school so he could focus on studying the Koran. His mother became incensed at his lack of progress and attacked him. Yaseen collapsed and soiled himself but continued to murmur extracts of the Koran. His mother undressed him, gave him some milk, and then dragged him to his bedroom. His mother said said he was repeatedly muttering the same verse and she thought he was just tired and left him. She returned to the room a few minutes later and found Yaseen convulsing on the floor before dying soon after.

Sara used barbecue gel to burn her son's body to destroy the evidence and set fire to the family home. It was initially thought that Yaseen had died in the blaze but investigations proved he had died several hours earlier. Pathologists discovered that Yaseen had broken ribs, a fractured arm and a fractured finger among other injuries, and lighter fuel was found on Sara's clothing.

Trial

Sara admitted that she had hit Yaseen "with a stick on his back like a dog" but claimed that her husband, Yousef, was a violent person that had beaten her and her son and was responsible for Yaseen's death. She said her husband had threatened to kill her if she did not accept responsibility. Her husband was cleared of allowing his son’s death by failing to act to prevent the abuse. Sara was found guilty of [...] and perverting the course of justice at Cardiff Crown Court and was sentenced to minimum of 17 years imprisonment.

Domestic violence reports

The case review by Cardiff's safeguarding children board found that in 2003, concerns regarding domestic violence were raised to a women's safety unit, though these were not reported to the police or children's services. Further reports of domestic violence were made in 2007. Although that several agencies had tried to support the mother, those efforts were "not part of a co-ordinated plan." The review made a number of recommendations that were accepted by the Cardiff safeguarding children board.

References

fa:قتل یاسین اج