Diksha Sundriyal
Kate Beckinsale stars as a mother scorned in Lifetime’s ‘Stolen Girl.’ The story follows a woman named Maureen whose daughter is taken away to another country by her ex-husband. The desire to reunite with her daughter leads her down a seemingly impossible path. What makes the story impactful is the fact that it is inspired by the true story of Maureen Dabbagh. Her ex-husband, Hisham, allegedly took their daughter, Nadia, to Syria without Maureen’s consent, prompting the latter to embark on a quest to bring her daughter back home.
Hisham and Maureen Dabbagh’s Irreconciliable Differences Led to Their Separation
Hisham Dabbagh was working as a medical lab technician in a Florida facility when he crossed paths with Maureen. He was a graduate of the University of Central Florida and had also studied at Indiana University Bloomington. When he met Maureen, she was getting treatment for a rare nerve disease. They immediately hit it off, and about six months after getting together, they were married in 1988. They moved to Medina, Ohio, to begin a new chapter in their lives, and in 1990, their daughter, Nadia, was born. The cultural differences between the couple, who were of different faiths, were expected.
Maureen believed that they would raise their daughter with knowledge of both Muslim and Christian faiths, allowing her to decide which one she wanted to follow when she grew up. However, Hisham seemed intent on raising their daughter as a Muslim. Maureen claimed that he had even made plans to arrange Nadia’s wedding with one of his cousins in Syria and had been planning to relocate the family to Syria. This was just one of the things that convinced Maureen that they wouldn’t be able to live together. So, she left with Nadia and filed for divorce. A custody battle ensued between them, with the court ascribing alternate months to each parent with their daughter.
Hisham’s Decision to Take Nadia Sparked an Unexpected Series of Events
After spending one month with Maureen, Nadia was sent to live with Hisham in Florida in November 1992. She was supposed to return to her mother in early December 1992, but she never did. As Maureen tried to get the authorities to work with her, Hisham left for Syria with Nadia in February 1993. The sudden disappearance of her ex-husband and her daughter led Maureen on an entirely unexpected road. In 1994, an Ohio court granted Maureen full custody of Nadia, which prompted the issuance of an arrest warrant against Hisham, accused of international child abduction. The problem was that the Syrian government didn’t care about American rules, so Hisham was free to raise Nadia with his family in Syria.
Here, too, Maureen tried to get the system on her side. It was revealed that Hisham had made a mistake in not registering Nadia as his daughter when he returned to Syria. This led Maureen to file for custody, and she won, while also getting the authorities to issue a warrant in his name. By that time, her ex-husband had moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a lab senior at Security Forces Hospital. Because Maureen was aware he had relatives there, she asked around in the healthcare facilities to figure out where he was working. Once that was confirmed, it turned out that he had entered the country with a false passport, so he was deported and sent back to Syria.
Related
Hisham Dabbagh Lives a Private Life Today
Hisham Dabbagh resides in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he works as Quality & Safety Officer at Kingdom Hospital. Before that, he lived in Damascus, Syria, where he ran Dabbagh & Sabbagh Laboratory. While Nadia’s case has been extensively discussed in the media, the story has been told from Maureen’s point of view. Hisham, on the other hand, has never publicly presented his side of the story. Since the arrest warrant issued against him for international child abduction still exists, he cannot come to the United States without the risk of getting arrested. Since he left the country with Nadia in February 1993, there has been no record of his return so far.
In the same vein, Maureen also applied for and won custody of Nadia in Syria. This was mainly because when Hisham brought the girl to Syria, he did not register her as his daughter, which is a legal necessity in the country. When he was deported by Saudi Arabia and sent back to Damascus, he was arrested by the Syrian police. While he was taken into custody, Nadia was sent to live with his relatives, once again preventing Maureen from reuniting with her daughter. He was brought in for a hearing, but reportedly, the judge decided to delay the trial for a month due to Ramadan. Maureen was also advised by her lawyer that her presence during the trial would actually work against her, as it would be her word against his. So, she left.
Hisham Evetually Reunited Maureen and Nadia
When the trial in Damascus took place, Hisham was reportedly let off with a fine. With the issue of the warrant resolved, he was free to live in Syria again. Years later, when Nadia turned 20 and asked to be put in touch with her mother, Hisham called Maureen and gave her a number through which she could talk to her daughter. Later, when Maureen and Nadia made plans to meet, he was at the Damascus airport to receive Maureen, who revealed that he apologised to her. The mother and daughter were finally reunited after almost two decades.
This is also when Nadia told Maureen that Hisham had told her about her mother and shown her pictures. She also said that her father told her he brought her to Syria because he wanted her to be raised in the Muslim religion. He worried that that wouldn’t have been possible with Maureen taking charge of Nadia’s upbringing. While Nadia and Maureen continue to stay in touch, it is unclear how things stand between Hisham and Maureen. He has kept his life out of public view and doesn’t appear to be active on any social media platform. While he most likely got married again and had a family, there is no confirmation about the personal details of his life. He, understandably, wants to keep it so.
