La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, October 26, 2025, p. 8
Regarding the case of Maha Schekaibán, which this newspaper published on October 2, 2025, titled: “Vicarious violence kills women in life”, unfortunately, they have been misinformed with half-truths and outright lies.
Dismayed by the damage that the falsehoods spread have caused my children, I find it necessary to share multiple details that I consider fundamental.
There is a video that documents the case: x.com/mahamiente
Children, the center of everything. The well-being, safety and development of my children have always been my priority. Each decision made in this process responds solely to that inalienable principle.
The resistance towards his mother has an explanation. During the time they were under Maha’s exclusive care, my children experienced unjustified confinements, padlocks on the doors, isolation from school and permanent surveillance by six ex-military bodyguards installed inside the home itself.
By Maha’s orders, my teenage daughters were forced to live within their own home with strange men. The children were recorded against their will, neglected in their basic needs and subjected to episodes of physical and emotional violence. It was not “parental interference” or “vicarious violence” that broke the maternal bond, but the real experiences of my children and the fear they experienced.
The accusations against me are false. I never used violence against Maha. For 18 years I loved and respected her. There are letters from him, prior to the divorce, that prove it. We have 5 children with a lot of love. The narrative of violence emerged as a legal strategy, carefully designed to exert economic pressure, using children as bargaining chips, demanding millions of dollars from my family.
Worrying behaviors. Multiple official reports and evaluations carried out by the CDMX Court of Justice report Maha with hostile behavior, unfounded accusations, aggressiveness, impulsivity and disproportionate reactions. Far from stigmatizing, I firmly believe that professional support is required to allow healthy and safe family reunification.
The children were not taken from her. The Attorney General’s Office of Mexico City removed the children from their home because they were found to be at risk. Later, they expressed their desire to live with me and this was confirmed by the court. Maha’s speech about children being taken away is a baseless media strategy and contrary to the children’s requests to the authorities.
I have always been open to encounter. I have requested coexistence, meetings and mediation processes. I have repeatedly asked to move forward through dialogue, agreement and understanding. Fortunately, there are already frequent cohabitations between the children and Maha, and a formal rebinding process within the court.
A reconnection is possible. I am willing, today and always, for there to be a gradual and accompanied process that rebuilds the relationship between Maha and the children. However, this path always requires putting their well-being and safety above everything else.
Nobody should go to prison. I have never sought, nor will I seek, prison for the mother of my children. My request to the authorities is clear and precise: that any of the measures be accompanied by therapies and monitoring, not punishments that destroy even more. A mother or father in jail is the worst punishment that can be imposed on children.
Fake news affects the administration of justice. We are an example of the complexity of how justice is being carried out in this digital age, where the law and the processes of procurement and administration of justice are pressured by great infodemic attacks. With ease, the virality of false information on social networks and the media is constantly breaking the balance of the scales of justice, where famous and ambitious offices, practitioners of extortion, have found their best business.
Corruption and lies. Maha and his lawyers have engaged in severe acts of corruption and false accusations, fully documented, and at the appropriate procedural moment they will be aired in judicial and media environments; But beyond that, the central thing is: my children deserve peace and stability above everything and everyone.
I have always looked for a fix. For almost 2 years I have sent reasonable proposals, asked for mediations, sought rapprochements, begged for agreements, I will continue to beg. I have not received a single counterproposal. The response has been a media war of smears; infodemic, which also damages society, fuels hatred, distorts and uses, for its own benefit, the gender struggle movement in Mexico.
Conclusion. Please, I ask public servants, the media, those who feed social networks, the public in general, to listen to the real protagonists: my children. Listen to them. Review your evidence, your testimonies and your interviews. See their tears and feel their pain.
I reiterate my willingness to have sincere dialogue, fair agreements, and a reconnection that gives my children the possibility of having a mother. I simply ask for truth, justice and peace for them.
My only intention is clear: to protect my children and ensure that they grow up in a stable, safe and loving environment. Everything else, including the false versions that circulate, is secondary to this essential responsibility.
Respectfully,
Bernardo Francisco Vogel Fernández de Castro
