No one has been arrested in connection with the cutting off of both ears of a young Ezidi (Yazidi) internally displaced person IDP in a camp in Duhok Northern Province, over a month following the incident while he is awaiting a surgery that costs $20,000, unaffordable by his family.
On June 1, Wajdi Zedan, 18, was attacked by several people near the Sharya camp in Duhok and cut off both ears after being anesthetized and tortured.
Fares Ali, Wajdi's uncle, told KirkukNow, “Wajdi's health condition is stable, but his wounds have not healed yet. Doctors have told him that he will have to undergo surgery for another time that costs USD20,000 but we are all displaced and poor, yet still have to provide it anyway."
Doctors told him he would have to undergo surgery after a while, saying it would cost $20,000
Earlier, Wajdi's father, Zedan Ali, told KirkukNow that at 10 pm on June 1, Wajdi went to watch a football match with several friends in the Sharia community near their camp. After the game, he was attacked by three men on his way home.
"They stopped him near the camp. They first boxed him in the stomach and head until he fainted. When he woke up, both his ears were cut off," Zedan said.
Fares Ali, Wajdi's uncle, affirmed, “According to my information, several people were arrested in Sharia camp for two to three days at the beginning of the incident, but were later released take themselves.”
"Investigations have been conducted with many people and statements have been taken, but the perpetrators have not been arrested yet," Hemn Sulaiman, spokesman for the Duhok police directorate, told Kirkuk Now.
"The investigation continues and we are following it very closely... we will definitely reach a satisfactory conclusion," Sulaiman said.
Wajdi is an Ezidi from the village of Siba Sheikh Khidra in Shingal (Sinjar) district. However, since August 2014 when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS tookover Shingal and large swathes of Iraq, he has been living with his family in Sharia camp in Sumel district of Duhok.
Initially, several people were detained in the Sharya camp for two to three days, but were later released
Wajdi has three brothers and three sisters, and he is the eldest. His father is a soldier of the Iraqi army.
The camp is located in Sumel district near Duhok, home to 2,325 IDP families.
"We know that Wajdi needs surgery on his ears. His relatives have asked several organizations to help them," said Dian Jaafar, director of the Interior Ministry's Joint Crisis Coordination Center JCC in Duhok.
According to the article, anyone who deliberately cuts off a person's organ is punishable by up to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment, depending on the case, beside compensation to the victim determined by the court.
