MAKKAH, 18 February 2004 — Burmese Muhammad Wali, who was arrested last week for allegedly selling his son, has confessed to his crime before Judge Ahmad Al-Mazroue, head of the summary court.
Wali’s confession retracts his earlier claim that he received SR10,000 from a Saudi not for the child but as assistance for medical treatment, Okaz reported yesterday.
Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed had set up a committee to investigate the incident in the wake of press reports that the man was also involved in the sale of other children.
Police in Makkah had arrested the man, 35, and his wife Amina Abul Hassan, 30, for allegedly selling a six-year-old child at Al-Haj Street in the city.
The arrest came after security agents at Muabada police station led by Lt. Col. Sulaiman Al-Sufi monitored the couple for six months and set a trap by using a couple posing as buyers for the child.
Wali was arrested while he was handing over the child and receiving the money. According to press reports, he would routinely extort more money after the sale by threatening to go to the police.
Police said Wali took advantage of single mothers and poor families staying illegally in the Kingdom, selling their infants shortly after birth.
Police are waiting for results of DNA tests to determine whether the child the couple sold last week was their own.
The judge said the punishment for the crime would be decided after submissions from the prosecution and defense.
“Wali’s confession is recognized, although it does not conform with his wife’s statement. The man may have committed the crime without her prior knowledge,” he said.
