RIYADH, 12 December 2005 — A special committee was formed to investigate a complaint from a Saudi couple against members of the religious police who allegedly assaulted them, seized property and detained the husband, Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday.

The special committee, which consists of representatives of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), the Riyadh police, the governor’s office and the investigation and prosecution department, will look into the complaint.

The Saudi man claims that the undercover officers attacked him and his wife in front of their apartment.

The man lodged a formal complaint Saturday night, claiming that two men wearing civilian clothes and driving a white car followed him from a shopping center. When he reached home, the men approached him and attempted to arrest him. Thinking that they were kidnappers, the man told his wife to run home and call for help. As one of the men tried to grab her, the husband attempted to defend his wife by attacking the undercover agent.

The victim claims that one of the men grabbed the woman’s abaya as she entered the building in an attempt to pull her out. She managed to call for help from neighbors who pulled her in and pushed the man out.

According to the complaint, an official car from the CPVPV then arrived at the location and a uniformed officer assaulted the husband before arresting him. The victim was placed inside the car and taken to the local CPVPV center where the beating continued.

Neighbors tried to prevent the arrest by telling the officers that the man was their neighbor and the woman was his wife.

The man also claims that the officers seized his cell phone and a personal computer inside his car. He alleged that, while under custody, he demanded that they take him to a police station, but instead they returned him to his place.

Police spoke to the couple and witnesses to take their statements. The wife was taken to a nearby hospital after the incident, suffering from bruises in the neck resulting from handling of her abaya as she tried to flee.

In a statement released to the press, the CPVPV said that the two undercover officers suspected that the couple was not married. It said that the officers followed them to their apartment and the clash occurred when they resisted detention.