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A year ago this month, authorities arrested members of a Muslim family in Nashville, Tennessee, for allegedly assaulting their teenage family member for his conversion to Christianity. Now, the three family members are scheduled to appear in court on charges of child abuse and aggravated child abuse.
The victim’s parents, Rawaa Khawaji and Nick Kadum, and brother, John Kadum, were detained by Tennessee police on Dec. 11, 2023, for reportedly spitting on and beating their family member. All three are set to appear in court for an arraignment hearing on Jan. 8, 2025.
When police arrived at the victim’s home, the boy had “lumps on his face” and “appeared to have been ‘cut haphazardly,’” Fox News reported at the time.
Khawaji, the victim’s mother, has been charged with aggravated child abuse, a felony, and child abuse for allegedly attacking and injuring the boy’s hand with a knife. Nick Kadum, the father, and John Kadum, the boy’s brother, have both been charged with child abuse for allegedly hitting the boy. The victim alleges that both his parents and brother punched him and “spat in his face.”
According to Fox17 in Nashville, the teenage victim, who worked at a local McDonald’s, allegedly confided in a co-worker, known only as Michelle, about abuse happening at home. Michelle raised the alarm over the treatment of the boy, and authorities conducted a welfare check as a result.
“I kind of adopted him in my heart,” Michelle said. “And I knew about this problem because he had come to me before and said, ‘My mom put a knife to my throat, and she said if I don’t deny Jesus, she will kill me.’”
Additionally, one of the victim’s neighbors, Paul Levine, alleged the boy also confided in him.
“He told me … he was threatened by his brother,” Levine said. “His brother was going to shoot him.”
The boy was reportedly removed from the family’s home and placed with a Christian foster family.
The case is ongoing, and more details are expected to emerge in January.
