Blog 3

Blog 3

I noticed that is week the news has been filled with interesting stories. One that caught my attention was the story that was very close to home. A mother that had at least five children locked four of them in a closet for punishment. While there is much that could be said for how she chose to correct the behaviors of her kids. What I am finding surprising is how little her neighbors knew about her and her children. The story did not go into detail about how long they lived in the home, but some of the neighbors did say that the kids rarely came out to play. What should be said is that she is an immigrant from Somalia who was left alone with five kids while her husband was away in Africa. The story goes into how the mother left the kids for 10 hours to go shopping. The mother was 28 years old with small children and little to no support system. She had her family members and friends. What I am thinking that is so different from anything that I could think of is that fact that one the father was gone for a month to visit family in another country. Then it was the uncle who said that she should feed the kids. I would think that if they found anything wrong with the kids that they would step in and help her, but that is not what happened in this case. She was left to her own to try and figure out how to take care of the family on her own. The Father a cab driver in Indy was not there to help. Reportedly she locked them in often when she was cooking or when they were being punished. I got the feel that really the mother was the only contact that the children had for guidance, love or direction.

What I wanted to see more of was what was her support system? I am a mother of six kids with three more through marriage which is a total of nine. Scary for some, but I am the oldest sister of nine siblings. I know who hard it is to raise a large family and with zero support it can be even harder. You make difficult decisions. From the looks of the woman when she came into court she was very malnutrition herself. Her eyes were sunk in and she looked to be skin and bones. The uncle is stated to have said he told her she should feed the kids, but with what would have been my question. The statement went on to say she agreed with the uncle, he went on to say that he told her this because the kids looked as if they had not been feed. Now we have this case and really we are at the start of everything it leaves so many questions. The kids were of school age why was this not reported by a teacher or had she not been here long enough to enroll the kids in school. The next question would be had she become a citizen yet? Did the children have citizenship? They are now in custody, but if they are not citizens will they be deported? The father is on his way back to the US, but will he even be able to get custody back? How did they live before this incident? Were there any signs to say that she needed help.

According to the statement from friends they live in a tight community and will not give a statement on her behave or against her. They would like to be left alone. Well if your so close why did they not try to help her with the children? They were in need of services and from the looks of things that was not given. It brings to mind how little help we as women receive. There are services, but in order to get them there is a process that needs to be followed. These services require most times that the person be a citizen of the United States in order to receive them. Women have historically been set in the position of nurturer. They are the ones set in place to having to take care of the children and make sure that their needs are met while men take care of going out to get the jobs and provide. While this may have even been the case for this couple why was she left to do what seems like everything by her self? This story has so many sides and just reading about it tends to anger me on behalf of the kids, the loss of life and the mother. I know that the father and other family members are experiencing a loss as well. The story is listed below please read a post your comments.


Girl knew 2 siblings died in Indy closet


Click here to find out more!
By Deanna Martin
of The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — A 7-year-old Indianapolis girl told investigators she and her siblings usually slept when barricaded in an apartment closet by their mother, but last weekend she called out for the woman to open the door after realizing her brother and sister had died, according to court documents released Thursday.

Ebyan Farah, 28, is charged with eight counts of neglect and confinement. A Marion County judge entered a preliminary not guilty plea on her behalf during a brief Thursday hearing, during which Farah hung her head and looked down at the floor.

Defense attorneys requested a gag order for the case and private autopsies for Farah’s 4-year-old daughter, Zuhur Farah Hassan, and 3-year-old son, Zakariya Farah Hassan. Her three other children have been placed in foster care, but a lawyer for her husband said he returned this week from a visit to Africa and is seeking to regain custody.

The attorneys issued a statement to Indianapolis media saying relatives of Farah, an immigrant from Somalia, are “devastated and shocked by this tragedy.”

“We are a tight community, and we believe with God’s help that we will face this tragedy with strength and faith,” Farah’s uncle, Mohammed Hersi, said in the statement.

Farah’s attorneys said they would have no further comment until the judge rules on the gag order.

Authorities have said Farah told police she “was not in her right mind” when she allegedly placed her children in a 6-foot-by- 1 1/2 -foot upstairs closet at Manchester Village Apartments about 6 a.m. Sunday. Court documents say Farah put a bed frame or mattress against the closet door to keep the children from leaving while she went to visit a friend for the day.

Seven-year-old Muntaaz Farah Hassan told investigators her mother often put children in the closet as punishment or when she needed to cook, according to a police affidavit. The girl said she sometimes helped her mother get the children in the closet when they got into trouble.

The girl said she had a hard time breathing in the hot, dark closet Sunday and that no food and water had been left for her and three of her four siblings, according to the affidavit. Muntaaz said her youngest brother, who turns 2 next month, was not there.

Authorities said earlier in the week that all five children were believed to be in the closet, but did not immediately return messages seeking an explanation for the discrepancy Thursday.

Muntaaz told investigators she believed her brother and sister died while all four children were sleeping. She said when she realized it, she called for her mother, who then opened the door.

Farah told police she opened the closet door about 4:20 p.m., according to the affidavit. Muntaaz said she watched her mother carry the dead children downstairs, the affidavit said.

Hersi told police he called to check in on his niece Sunday evening.

“I did something wrong,” Farah said and began crying, according to affidavit.

Police were called after Hersi went to the home, looked inside and saw one of the dead children on the couch. A police report said medics found both children “in full rigor mortis” and with no pulse.

Autopsies on the children found no blunt force trauma and Dr. John Daniels determined they did not die of natural causes or disease, according to the probable-cause affidavit. Daniels is waiting on toxicology tests to help determine a cause of death but listed several possible factors: high temperatures in the closet, positional asphyxia, a possible low level of oxygen and the additional complication of malnutrition.

The children’s weights were found to be in the lower 25th percentile based on height and weight, according to the affidavit. Hersi recently told Farah she needed to feed the children because he feared they might die from not eating, and Farah told detectives she understood what her uncle was saying and agreed with him, according to the affidavit.

Farah said she had been feeding her children but hasn’t been feeding herself recently, the affidavit said.

Her defense attorneys say they have requested private autopsies in an effort to learn the contents of the children’s stomachs.


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