Christ First Forum

Kids beaten for being bad Muslims, caseworker says
Boy was beaten for not following Islam closely enough, girls say
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 02:53 AM
By Rita Price
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A Franklin County Children Services worker who is accused of violating the rights of a Muslim family said agency files contain references to their religion because it was a source of conflict between the parents and children.

Amber Spires told jurors in U.S. District Court that Naim and Hadiya AbdulSalaam's strict practices were an issue with their children, especially their 16-year-old son, Mandela, who was the first to be placed in foster care, in 2003.

"That was part of the argument between Mandela and the family," Spires testified yesterday in the trial of a lawsuit against her. "They are strict, and they are Islamic."

Mrs. AbdulSalaam's attorney, Michael Moore, asked Spires whether she would have noted that a family was "strict Christians."

"I might have, yes," Spires said.

The caseworker testified that the three teenage daughters told her that their mother and stepfather had stripped Mandela and beaten him until he lost control of his bowels.

"His sisters specifically told me that he had been disciplined for being a bad Muslim," Spires testified.

She also said that, during her first meeting with the girls in May 2003, one asked whether she could remove her headscarf. Spires said she asked whether their mother allowed that, and she explained that she would be truthful if Mrs. AbdulSalaam asked about it.

After the agency accused the parents of not providing proper education and medical care and forcing the girls to work long hours in the home and family store, the three girls also went into foster care, in July 2003. Spires said Mandela told her the girls also were beaten.

Mrs. AbdulSalaam, 55, of Grandview Heights, complained to the agency numerous times about the handling of her case. She said the agency refused to find a Muslim foster home, allowed a foster family to take the girls to church, and placed the children in predominately white schools, where they were uncomfortable.

Spires testified that, even though she was a new caseworker handling a difficult case, she did not worry that she was being unfair. "That did not cause me concern, because I knew I did not do anything discriminatory towards her," Spires said of Mrs. AbdulSalaam.

Spires acknowledged that one of the girls ended up singing in her foster family's church choir but said the girl wasn't forced. "We had gone over and over with them (the foster parents) what they could and couldn't do with these kids because of their religion," Spires testified. "When we got this information that she was singing in the choir, we were perplexed."

Officials have said that the children were raised Christian until Mrs. AbdulSalaam married Mr. AbdulSalaam.

The girls were returned to their mother in 2004. Mrs. AbdulSalaam pressed on in her court fight with the agency and, in 2005, a Juvenile Court judge dismissed the educational-neglect charge.

Mrs. AbdulSalaam and two of her daughters filed the federal lawsuit in 2006. Judge Algenon L. Marbley dismissed the county and other agency officials from the lawsuit, leaving Spires as the sole defendant.

rprice@dispatch.com
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