💬 My cousin was locked in her own house in Dammam for weeks, and I still think about it

This is my cousin Ayesha's story, and I have waited a long time to write it down. She is a doctor. She got married in Hyderabad and moved to Dammam when her husband found her a hospital job there. The first year looked normal. A stable job, a 6 year old daughter, a marriage that seemed fine. Then he started coming home past midnight with no explanation, and going silent if she asked twice. She told herself it was work pressure. It was not. It got worse slowly, and soon he was violent at home. Her daughter was not spared either. He took her phone and the spare key, and locked the house from outside every morning before he left for work. For weeks she and her daughter sat inside with no way to reach anyone. Her parents back home could not get through, and finally they asked relatives in Jeddah to check on her. One night he crossed a line that I will not write about, and she knew she could not stay another day. A cousin visiting from Jeddah arranged for the door to be opened while he was at work. She walked out, told the cousin everything, and went straight to the police. Within two days she was on a flight home with her daughter. The case went through the legal process and the divorce followed soon after. Today she lives with her parents, works at a hospital in Hyderabad, and sleeps through the night. Some of us in the family told her to fight back. Others said to ask quietly for a divorce. I still wonder whether we gave her the right advice. If you know a woman in a situation like this, what would you want her to hear first?

In India a woman can approach the women's cell or the police for help with domestic violence, and most cities have free legal aid. I am sharing this in case someone reading needs it. Your cousin did the right thing by going to the police at once. Please tell her that people she will never meet are thinking of her.

Hearing that she lives with her parents and sleeps through the night made me emotional. Recovery is slow and it is not a straight line.

I wonder if she would talk to other women who went through the same. Support groups helped a friend of mine more than any advice, because nobody there needed an explanation. My friend said the first meeting was the hardest and the second was already easier. It is good that the legal process was followed and that she is working again. Slowly, the nights get easier.

Her parents asking relatives in Jeddah to check on her is the part that saved her, I think. When someone goes quiet for weeks, family should not wait. A neighbour of ours in Mehdipatnam once did the same for his sister, with a single phone call, and it changed her life. Please tell your cousin that people are proud of her.

To your last question, I think both pieces of advice came from love. What matters is that she had a family to run to, and many women do not. I would tell any woman in that position to memorise one trusted phone number and tell one person early, before things get worse.

Locked in for weeks with a child and no phone, I cannot imagine it. Your cousin did the hardest thing by walking out and going straight to the police. Please tell her from a stranger that none of it was her fault. Alhamdulillah she and her daughter are safe and she is working again. Time to sleep and heal matters more than any advice.