MADINAH, 10 February 2004 — The finding of the headless body of a ten-year-old boy in the Erwa Valley in Madinah has horrified the city. Police have interrogated three suspects, two Saudis and a Chadian with a criminal record.
Investigations have revealed that the three suspects had relations with the boy though they have not confessed to the crime and deny any link with it. The boy’s head has not been found and police are still searching for it. DNA samples have been taken from a missing boy’s parents to determine if the body of the headless child is their son.
The father of the missing child said it was possible that the body was not his son’s. He explained his son had a burn scar on his leg which the body he saw did not have. Because the body was in water for three days, however, the scar may have disappeared. He also said that the body was so disfigured that he had been unable to identify it positively.
Govt Employee to Be Flogged
A government employee has been sentenced to 300 lashes and 10 months in jail for striking his colleague with a sharp instrument, Al-Watan reported yesterday. The Court of Grievances instructed the authorities to deduct three months from the employee’s salary. A Shariah court had earlier sentenced the man to 10 months in jail and 300 lashes in five installments.
