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| Sahar Thabit |
(Scroll down for video) A woman was arrested and charged with assault related charges after burning her daughter with a hot knife because she was talking to a boy on the internet, according to police reports in Florida.
The mother, who identified herself as a religious Muslim, burned her teenage daughter with a red hot knife after she caught her talking to a Yemenite guy she met online, police said.
Sahar Thabit, 35, allegedly went crazy because she had already arranged for her 17-year-old daughter to marry her cousin.
"She told me that she was communicating with a guy she liked and her parents were not happy with that," Somy Ali, who advised the girl said.
Thabit was arrested Friday and charged with three counts of child abuse.
The girl showed police numerous burn marks throughout her body, according to a police report.
The alleged burning came to light after a classmate of the girl alerted school officials, who contacted police. The school friend also said that she tried to commit suicide.
The victim told the assistant principal of the school that her mother burned her, police said. This led to Jessica Roesch, a nurse in a sexual assault treatment center, to examine the child and the conclusion that she was abused physically and mentally.
"This discipline is excessive and inappropriate in any culture," Roesch said in her report.
Thabit, who moved to Hollywood, Florida, from Yemen, considered the online friendship a betrayal of the family culture and Muslim heritage, according to Ali.
"Culturally having sex before marriage or boyfriend is not allowed," Ali said. "She has only been in the U.S. for about 5 or 6 years and her parents did not allow her to participate in these activities at all. From their point of view, this brings disgrace to the family," Ali said.
Ali explained that even though the girl likes the guy she met on the Internet, she is not willing to marry anyone right now. The boy actually called the family home to ask the girl out for marriage after the controversy erupted, but her father hung up each time, Ali said.
"The boy was trying to do the right thing," Ali said.
Ali believes that the girl, who is currently staying with a family friend, would most benefit from talking to people who are familiar with their heritage.
“I recommended that she is seen by a Middle Eastern psychologist, who speaks Arabic and understands her culture," Ali said.Mobile video not loading? Click here to view