Woman doctor wants Haia to apologize for mistreating her

A female neurologist from King Fahd teaching hospital in Alkhobar who was allegedly harassed by a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) after she helped a patient’s son said she is so shaken by the incident that she has trouble dealing with male patients. Dr. Nura Al-Musallam told Al-Madinah Arabic daily that she has even considered leaving her job. She said she was leaving the office and on her way to her car when a man stopped her to ask for advice regarding the health of his mother, who was one of her patients. "While I was talking to him, a man who claimed to be a member of the Haia came and asked me to hand him my identity card and mobile phone and to accompany him to the Haia office. He did not reveal his name or show me his identity card but harshly asked me to go with him to the office," she said. Al-Musallam said she was talking to the man quietly but he started shouting and became threatening. She said he asked her not to say a word and just to follow him to the office. "I refused to go with him or give him my mobile phone or identity card. He then made a telephone call and a car bearing the name and emblem of the Haia arrived. They took the man who was talking to me about his mother with them," she said. Al-Musallam said a crowd soon began to form at the scene and she felt extremely embarrassed. "I tried to go inside the hospital but the Haia member prevented me from doing so and blocked the door. I could not understand what was going on. I felt so bad and started to cry. I lost consciousness and my colleagues took me inside the hospital," she said. She said she lost focus after the incident and started considering giving up her job. "On the second day, I sent a letter to the Eastern Province governorate outlining what had happened and asking for justice," she said. Al-Musallam said she would not withdraw her complaint unless she received an official apology from the Haia. "The official apology should be coupled with arrangements to protect people against their excessive behavior," she said. A high-level Haia official in the Eastern Province, who spoke on condition of anonymity, admitted his colleague had made a mistake and said they would make serious efforts to avoid such incidents in the future. "This was a mistake and mistakes happen everywhere," he said. Meanwhile, the University of Dammam said it filed official complaints to the governorate and to the Haia. The director of the teaching hospital, Dr. Khaled Mattar, also said they filed a similar complaint to the Haia and vowed not to keep silent on what happened to Al-Musallam. The newspaper reported that for the fifth day in a row its official spokesman would not respond to its calls for a comment.