The Story of Heba

Based on a true story, names were changed...

At the tender age of 12, Heba changed many people around her, except her murderers.

Heba had no idea what awaited her at home when her older brother caught her holding hands with a boy.

The boy, an innocent crush, was her classmate and the pre-teen flirtations were viewed as a crime by her brother.

Her brother was so angry at the scene, he quickly grabbed her by the arm and took her home, but this was just the beginning of the story.

A few days later, her angry father went to her school to tell the principal why his daughter has been absent for days. 

"My daughter is a whore and she is being kept home and punished," he told the principal as he recounted the story.

Everything changed at Heba'a school. The young boys and girls were seperated, the classroom was no longer mixed as the school attempted to prevent such "problems" from taking place. This could, after all, tarnish the school's reputation.

Heba's friends were crying, they missed her, but little did they know that their friend was being punished severely. She was tied to her bed in a room she was not allowed to leave. Her food was brought to her. Her brothers and father took turns beating and physically and psychologically abusing the child.

Her mother wanted all of this to stop, but she could not find a voice to protest. She could not say any word to spare her daughter from this torture.

One day, Heba's bestfriend, Mias, insisted to visit. Her mother accompanied her to Heba's house. 

Heba's mother told them that she is being beaten, in an innocent gesture, she agreed to let Mias's mother see her.

Mias's mother was glad her daughter did not come upstairs with her. The scene was horrific. She saw poor Heba tied to a bed. She was helpless, a girl who could possibly be killed was in front of her.

A few days later, Heba managed to escape from her house. She went to hide in her friend's house. Mias's mother was worried about the consequences of this, she convinced Heba to go back to her house and ask for permission to visit Mias.

Mias never saw Heba again. When she returned home, her brothers and father beat her to death. Her mother was pleading for them to stop, but they could not. She was bringing shame to her family....

The police showed up to Mias's house. Her poor mother was accused by Heba's family of beating her to death. They had a solid case, in their mind that is, Heba visited Mias shortly before she succumbed to her death.

In the end, noone was charged. Heba didn't live to see her teens, Mias was traumatized for a long time, crying for her friend.

There was a silence at the funeral..... Heba's mother lost her mind, literally. She looked at her own sons and husband with blank eyes. She hated her eldest son the most, she remembered how she begged him to stop before it was too late...