Moroccan citizen Lina Elouahabi died in Sweden in December 2021 after she failed to convince social services to help her retain custody of her 10-year-old son. The young mother was battling mental and physical health issues that may have figured in her taking her own life.
Unemployed and faced with financial difficulties, Elouahabi shared several videos on her Youtube channel to tell her story and seek help. Elaouahabi chronicled what she described as pressure from Swedish social care services to take her son from her as she suffered from mental health issues.
Elouahabi traveled to Sweden in the early 2010s. After her divorce from her husband in 2012, she worked to improve her social status, learned the Swedish language, and studied nursing. She cared for the child independently as his father had been out of Sweden for some years.
While she struggled to navigate Swedish law, the single parent described her treatment from the Swedish authorities and social and health care services as “racist.” Social services eventually decided to separate Elouahabi and her son because of her mental health issues and inability to receive treatment.
Elouahabi explained that she felt alone in one of her videos as she did not have much time for her friends and personal comfort. “I spent all my life at work to fulfill my commitments,” she said.
Elouahabi sought help from a psychiatrist she named in one of her videos as Dr. Filip. He prescribed anti-depression medication for her.
“The doctor, however, did not give me any explanation about the side effects of such drugs,” she said in the video. She explains that she faced several health challenges due to the anti-depressants, which she said pushed her to consider suicide.
“I decided to stop those medicines because I knew they were killing me instead of helping me,” she said.
Elouahabi said in a video that the doctor “deluded her” by acting as a friend and even made home visits. She accused him of helping social services take away her son.
According to her, the doctor was prescribing her medication and simultaneously communicating her situation to the social services. Such communication between medical and social service professionals is legal in the EU as part of the child protection efforts. These practices are aimed at protecting children from parents suffering from severe mental health issues that could result in any harm to the child.
Elouahabi’s problems affected her work, and eventually, she lost her job.
She sought acute psychiatric help at a medical facility. She said, “All people and friends gave up on me after I left the mental hospital. I lost my job, and I was not able to find a new one.”
The resulting custody battle left her unemployed. Since she could not pay her bills, her credit was poorly marked. She asked the social services for financial aid, but they recommended she apply for a loan which she did and then had mounting debt.
Social media speculation resulted in a campaign about Lina Elouahabi’s case, but media outlets remained silent on the woman’s story. Moroccan diaspora across Scandinavia are trying to bring some clarity to this tragic situation.
Some social users are not convinced that Elouahabi committed suicide, stating that “she always expressed hope and trust in God through her videos.”
All of Elouahabi´s videos posted on her YouTube channel were deleted on January 2.
MorocccoWorld News contacted the Swedish embassy in Rabat for more information about Lina Elouahabi’s case. The embassy, however, could not share any information at the time of writing.
Regional groups across the world who followed her videos and situation will not forget the accounts and continue to appeal for justice and the truth.
Women’s Rights Watch (WRW), an independent women’s rights organization, and Scandinavian-Moroccan Interest Federation (SMIF), an association following Moroccan diaspora news, shared compassion and support for the Moroccan woman.
The organizations vowed to Morocco World News that they will continue to dig for the truth and bring clarity to the case.
Sho’on Islamia (Islamic Affairs), a social media account active in sharing diaspora’s challenges in Sweden, condemned the lack of details surrounding the mother’s death.
The page shared Elouahabi’s funeral, saying that “it is said that she died of sadness and that she could not bear the decision to take her child from her.”
The child now lives with another family since he was removed from his mother’s custody prior to her death. However, the father returned to Sweden a few months ago to take his son’s custody, local organizations told MWN.
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