Sobhi Rmayed

My name is Sobhi. I had left Tyr, my birthplace, to go live in Beirut with my young wife Hosnieh. We were thrilled to start a new life together and were happily anticipating the birth of our baby in a few weeks’ time.

On the night of my kidnapping, I was at home with my cousin Merhi. Hosnieh was at her sister’s place in Hamra. Her due date was approaching so having her sister by her side reassured her. Meanwhile, my cousin had left Tyr in the morning and came over to spend the night. He was going to Germany the next day to meet with an ophthalmologist as his retina was damaged due to an incident that caused him to lose his sight.

I was thrilled to see him. We grew up together and despite our different personalities, we were very close to each other. Merhi was a big guy, mostly shy and reserved. I, on the other hand was small and very extroverted. I loved partying, especially in weddings where I used to dance the dabkeh. Instead of separating us, our differences were the source of our compatibility. On that night, as we were sitting on the couch chatting, a group of men suddenly barged in.

The rest of my story remains unknown, along with the details of our kidnapping.

Whereas the story of my daughter Salam, the young girl who was born a couple of days after my disappearance, was written without me.

My name is Sobhi Rmayed, my cousin is Merhi Rmayed. Do not let our story end here.