An Asian-American married couple from Los Angeles are jailed in the Middle East and accused of murder with intent for allegedly starving their 8-year-old adopted daughter, Gloria.
According to freemattandgrace.com, Matthew and Grace Huang were in Qatar because Matthew, a Stanford-trained engineer, was working on an infrastructure project related to the 2022 World Cup Improvements. With them were their three children- all of whom were adopted from Africa.
On January 15, 2013, Gloria suddenly died and the couple was arrested shortly after. The couple is charged for intentionally starving the child for the purposes of human trafficking despite the fact that there is no actual evidence that the couple ever harmed or mistreated their children.
The Qatari doctor who conducted Gloria’s autopsy concluded that her cause of death was dehydration and wasting disease though supporters in the U.S. argue that such a conclusion doesn’t add up. Gloria’s history of eating disorders and malnutrition, as well as the health risks that arose from them, are not taken into account.
It is, however, not a stretch to assume that malnutrition played a hand in the child’s death. Huffington Post reports “Their daughter, who was severely malnourished in early childhood, would periodically refuse food for several days and then binge eat or get food from bizarre sources, such as garbage cans or from strangers – a behavior her parents traced to her impoverished upbringing and were trying to address…The behavior is not uncommon in adopted children who have suffered from severe malnutrition in their past.”
The claim that she was starved, however, doesn’t seem to add up. Gloria was seen walking around the day before she died. If starvation were the cause, she certainly would not have had the strength to do so.
Despite Gloria lacking any physical evidence of abuse, the investigative report theorized that the adopted children were bought for organ harvesting and perhaps for medical experimentation. Yes, we agree- this is a rather harsh accusation to make.
Even more alarming, the report suggests that theres no legitimate reason to adopt these children who were not “good-looking” and did not share their “hereditary traits”. U.S. supporters argue that this abrasive comment is due to a culture gap. In America, adoption is accepted and perfectly normal, but it is a foreign concept in many countries in the Middle East.
The couple’s other two children are being cared for by their grandmother while the trial continues. The Huangs have been imprisoned in Qatar for over six months as they await their trail. The penalty if found guilty? Death.
Many U.S. supporters are fighting back against what is described as an unfair cultural misunderstanding. Let us know what you think.
