I can still remember so clearly my first glimpse of Lejla. She was tiny, just two days old, wrapped in blankets, with a pink, milky face. She had just been fed and was in a plastic cot alongside other babies in the hospital basement in Sarajevo. They had one big blanket over them to keep them warm.
It was late December 1992, bitterly cold. The Balkan conflict was raging and I had just interviewed Lejla’s mother, Mia*, a 30-year-old Muslim who had given birth to her after being imprisoned in a Serbian rape camp and only released when she was six months pregnant. She’d managed to escape across the mountains to the relative safety of Sarajevo and the hospital where we were now sitting. Shut away in a quiet side room, wrapped in a dark velour dressing gown, she was angry and in shock. Several floors away was the baby she could not bear to look at or hold.
Overnight decision
I was working as a camerawoman with my husband, Dan, a journalist, for Sky News. We were based in the hospital and Mia had agreed to speak to us. She didn’t want her face on camera, but spoke animatedly with her arms as she told me of her horrendous ordeal, how her rapists had beaten and bitten her repeatedly. She then admitted she couldn’t touch her baby because she thought she might strangle her. It seemed impossible to think something so perfect could have come out of such hate and violence.
After the interview, neither Dan nor I could stop thinking of this defenceless little mite. Who would take care of her?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 01, 2020-Ausgabe von WOMAN - UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 01, 2020-Ausgabe von WOMAN - UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Fast&fresh DINNERS
Healthy meals to keep you satisfied on busy weeknights.
Health checks that could SAVE YOUR LIFE
We service our cars and boilers to make sure they run smoothly, so why not our bodies?
FEEL SEXIER in 60 seconds
Try these instant tricks to lift your libido and get turned on fast
Destination SWAPS
Change your favourite resorts for these great-value, lesser-known places
5 steps to the PERFECT HALLWAY
Try these makeover musts to transform the often-overlooked space into an entrance you can be proud of ai
The secrets WE KEEP
Two women explain why they realised it was finally time to speak up
Our split made us STRONGER!
Bernie Jones loves her husband more after their break-up 4
Can our beloved NHS BE SAVED?
With waiting lists for surgery reaching new highs, we investigate the lengths patients are going to in order to receive treatment
WANT TO SEE BEHIND THE CASTLE GATES?
It’s an interesting development that King Charles has increased public access to Buckingham Palace and opened up Balmoral Castle for the first time.
'The divorce SPEAKS FOR ITSELF"
Singer-turned-actor Billie Piper on her turbulent past and becoming the woman she is today