Still waiting for Bader

Tomorrow will mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of three-year-old Bader Jawad Hussain Mubarak.

The search for him by the Interior Ministry has stopped but investigations are still on-going in a bid to find him.

Bader went missing while he was playing outside his house in Samaheej.

His brother Mohammed said his family is still hoping that he will come back.

"We are still waiting for him to come back home and live among the people who love him," he said. "The whole family is praying day and night for his safe return.

"The Interior Ministry has stopped its search for Bader but the officers are still carrying out their investigations.

"I heard that they investigated again with a group of labourers who were working near our house when Bader was sitting outside.

"The labourers claim that they hadn't seen anything but personally I cannot believe they didn't notice something because they were working just outside our house."

Mohammed said that one of the labours admitted that he had asked for water from Bader and that his brother had fetched it for him.

"I am sure one of them has seen something but maybe they are too scared to talk," Mohammed feared.

Bader went missing on July 10, last year. He was being looked after by his grandmother because his mother Bahraini Sakeena Kannan Al Mulla had gone for an appointment for an X-ray in Salmaniya Medical Complex.

Mrs Al Mulla left the house with her husband around 10.30am while Bader was sleeping. His 10-year-old brother Ali was also in the house.

When Mrs Al Mulla came back around 2pm Bader was missing and when she asked Ali about him he said that he and Bader had just returned from a cold store nearby.

While Ali stayed in the house watching television, Bader left to play in front of the house. The family started searching for him and when they failed to find him they visited neighbouring properties and asked if anyone had seen him - but no one had. They then called the police for help.

Mrs Al Mulla's Saudi husband Jawad, 58, is a part-time taxi driver and currently lives in Saudi Arabia with his second wife and children.

Mrs Al Mulla, has seven children, five from a previous marriage, and said her youngest son used to accompany her wherever she went.

"Bader never left my sight, wherever I went, he went. That day he was asleep and I didn't feel like waking him and ruining his nap, so I thought I will leave him in the house and come back as soon as possible. Now I wish that I have taken him with me," she said.

"He used to come to me and say 'Mother, I love you, everyday', and now I can't hear his voice again.

"I can't sleep, rest, eat or have peace of mind. I mean, how can I? How can I sleep when I don't know where my son is?"

"It is very hard to lose a child but it is even harder if you don't know if your child is alive or dead."

Mrs Al Mulla says that her heart tells her that her son is alive.

"When I go to my bedroom at night I look at his bed which is next to mine and wonder what happened to him.

"I cry when I see his slippers, his clothes, the toys he played with, the television programmes he liked," she said.

"Bader was a very shy and quiet person but was a fun boy and loved to smile and play with his brothers and sisters. We all pray that he comes back to us."