This shocking footage reportedly shows a six-year-old Syrian boy being tortured by a kidnapper, with his desperate family selling everything they have to raise a ransom for his release.
The young boy has been named as Fawaz Qetaifan and he was reportedly kidnapped in lawless Syria, which has been torn apart by a bloody civil war lasting over a decade.
Fawaz was reportedly kidnapped on his way to school in the city of Deraa, which is located in south-western Syria, in November.
Two motorbikes reportedly pulled up alongside the young boy and his sister. Witnesses have reportedly said that a female passenger riding pillion pointed at Fawaz and three men grabbed him before they sped off on their vehicles with him.
His kidnap has shocked the Arab world after the footage began making the rounds on social media over the last few days.
The footage shows the young boy in his underwear being viciously beaten by one of his captors. In the footage, the boy can reportedly be heard wailing: “For God’s sake, stop hitting me.”
The abductors reportedly contacted the young boy’s parents, first on WhatsApp before using Telegram, which allows for a higher degree of anonymity.
They reportedly asked the young boy’s family for a ransom of SYP 500 million (GBP 147,000), which they managed to cobble together, reportedly by selling their land and other assets of value they had.
This is also not the first video the kidnappers have sent the boy’s family, according to local media reports, which state that the abuse has become worse after each video.
The kidnappers reportedly said “this will be the state of the boy every day” in a message sent along with the video in which the young boy can be seen being beaten.
The young boy’s uncle, who has not been named, has reportedly said that the kidnappers have threatened to continue torturing the boy unless the ransom is paid, and they have reportedly also threatened to cut off one of the boy’s fingers every day until the family have paid the ransom.
As well as selling their land, the family have reportedly managed to crowdfund the rest of the money from other members of the Qetaifan tribe, which the young boy belongs to, according to local media reports.
Rami Abdulrahman, founder of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said: “It seems that the issue will be resolved within the next 48 hours, as the money has been raised.”
He added: “We do not know who kidnapped him for sure. Kidnappings have been increasing in all areas of Syria.”
Even if the child is returned safely after the ransom is paid, there are fears that this will only encourage kidnappers to abduct more children.
There is reportedly a high level of violence in the area, with scenes of young children begging for their lives while their adult captors beat them reportedly becoming increasingly widespread.
A report compiled in 2020 by Syrians for Truth and Justice and called ‘Deraa: Child Kidnappings Haunt Locals’ has reportedly documented at least 31 child kidnappings between January and August 2020.
Many of them were reportedly kidnapped on their way to school, and some of the reports mention a woman kidnapper. The report also found that many of the kidnappings took place near security checkpoints controlled by forces loyal to the regime, with some reportedly suspecting the army of being involved.
Many of the kidnapped children are still missing.
Bassam Al-Ahmad, the co-founder and CEO of Syrians For Truth and Justice, said: “Deraa has witnessed a lot of cases. Abductors came from all factions: rebels, mercenaries and regime thugs. The kidnappings continued to happen despite the areas falling under Russian and governmental control.”
