Rania al-Baz was a TV news producer in Saudi Arabia when her husband brutally beat her – to the point where he thought she was dead. After the abuse, in which she suffered 13 fractures to her face and landed in a coma, al-Baz made the brave decision to publish photos of her now unrecognizable face.
(FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images) Nine years have passed since the people of Saudi Arabia were shocked by newspaper photos of the battered, swollen face of Rania Al-Baz, a well-known television newscaster. Her ghastly injuries were inflicted by her husband, who beat her nearly to death.
Rania al-Baz said her husband, Mohammed al-Fallatta, beat her so hard earlier this week that he broke her nose and fractured her face in 13 places. She is recovering in hospital. Police are looking for Mr Fallatta, an unemployed singer. Reuters news agency says he faces charges of attempted murder.
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Rania al Baz was beaten nearly to death, and she was courageous enough to go public. "He told me, 'I'm not coming to beat you. I am coming to kill you.' He grabbed me by the neck and flung me to the ground," she says. For six years, she had been the very popular host of Saudi television's morning show.
Rania al-Baz was a TV news producer in Saudi Arabia when her husband brutally beat her – to the point where he thought she was dead.
Until 2004, Rania Al-Baz appeared regularly on the television program The Kingdom this Morning, her hair covered but her face unveiled.