An emotional scene of a father reuniting with his kidnapped son after 20 years with a heart-touching hug went viral on social media.
DNA testing has re-united a Saudi man with his son 20 years after he was kidnapped.
Ali Al-Khinezi’s son ‘Musa’ was abducted in 1996 a mere three hours after his wife had given birth at the Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Dammam.
‘Musa’ was reunited with his family on Tuesday following court-ordered DNA testing, which showed a total match between him, his mother and his father after seven days of waiting.
“This is a time of jubilation for the whole Al-Khineizi family,” said Ali. “We are preparing to receive our son with flowers and candles.”
Ali spoke of the turmoil the family went through after his son’s kidnapping. “It was like charcoals burning my heart after my son was stolen, and his mother cried continuously every night, repeatedly asking only one question – that was about her son’s whereabouts,” he said.
The family had spent the last 24 years looking for ‘Musa’, even offering multiple rewards for his safe return.
‘Musa’ was finally found after the now 50-year-old woman who abducted him and another child told officials that she had found the ‘abandoned’ babies 20 years ago and decided to raise them as her own.
Authorities arrested the woman after they suspected that she could be the kidnapper in a case that took place in the 1990’s, with the other child being abducted from the same hospital in 1999.
The police said, “The woman was apprehended after she applied for identification cards for the two boys, now in their twenties, based on suspicious data.”
