An American couple has been jailed in Qatar for alleged starving their daughter.
Matthew and Grace Huang are a California couple who moved to Qatar with their children for Matthew’s job, which involved aiding with the infrastructure improvement of country for the 2022 World Cup, according to The New York Daily News. While the couple was in Qatar, their 8-year-old daughter, Gloria, passed away from what the medical examiner called ‘wasting disease’.
Following Gloria’s death, her parents were arrested on the suspicion of deliberately starving their daughter to death and intending to harvest her organs, according to The Blaze.
The Huangs adopted Gloria from Ghana in 2009 at 4-years-old and they have stated that the girl had very unusual eating habits. Gloria was malnourished in early childhood and her parents stated that she would often refuse food for several days and then go on severe eating binges, getting food from anywhere.
She was noted for suddenly having food that she may have received from a stranger or pulled from a garbage can. She also attempted to leave the house in search of food, according to a report by Janice Ophoven, a pediatric forensic pathologist who reviewed the case for the family.
At the time of her death, Gloria Huang may not have eaten in as many as four days.
Despite not having any true evidence against the Huangs, the Qatari government believes there must be an illegal, ulterior motive for the Huangs, who are Asian American, to have adopted three black African children.
According to The California Innocence Project, the Qatari police found the family ‘inherently suspicious’ and police reports repeatedly suggested “that Matthew and Grace could not have had a legitimate reason to adopt children who were not ‘good-looking’ and who did not share their ‘hereditary traits.’”
From that logic, police investigators came to the conclusion that the couple “bought” their children with the intention to harvest or their organs or perform medical experiments on them.
The parents are in shock over their conviction and have called on President Obama to intervene.
“We just don’t believe that we have been convicted. This verdict should be overturned immediately and we should be allowed to go home,” Matthew Huang said. “We feel that we have been kidnapped by the Qatari justice system.”
The couple’s attorney, Sami Abu Sheikha, said that the judge did not tell the Huangs what they are guilty of and they will be appealing the case.
The couple has been sentenced to three years in prison and each has been fined $4,100.