MAKKAH, 10 August 2007 — The prized items are mostly purses and mobiles. Sometimes the theft involves sneaking off with bags of food snatched off buffet tables. Occasionally the crooks might steal jewelry off children while the adults aren’t watching. Whatever the case may be, wedding crashers — uninvited shysters who pose as wedding guests in order to crib valuables from unwary celebrants — is an all-too-common ruse here, according to a report recently in Al-Nadwa newspaper.
“It’s not easy to spot these people,” said Makkah resident Latifa Al-Radadi. “They are well dressed to mix in with the crowd. They usually strike when everybody has their eyes on the groom and bride as they are walking down the aisle.”
Al-Radadi says that invitation cards alone are not enough to stop the entry of strangers because the ceremonies that are targets tend to involve large numbers of guests, many of who forget their invitations.
The newspaper claims that there exist “hundreds” of complaints, without citing a source for this information, and that some of the cases involve child kidnapping.
“Not to far back one lady tried to kidnap an infant,” said Umm Faisal, a Makkah resident. “As she was exiting the wedding hall she was stopped by a guest who became suspicious of the woman. Upon questioning her she said that the baby belonged to her employer and that she was taking the baby to the bathroom to change its diapers. The guest did not buy her story, as the so-called maid dropped the baby and made a run for it but was stopped short outside by men dropping off their families at the gate.”
Umm Faisal suggested female security guards to solve what the woman said was a “growing problem,” guards that can scrutinize women guests more closely.
The newspaper report didn’t interview any Makkah police officials to confirm if there has been an increase in reported crimes at wedding celebrations; the report relies mainly on word-of-mouth anecdotal information, such as the story provided by 30-year-old wedding-hall supervisor Saleha.
“In two years at this job I’ve noticed wedding crashers on a number of occasions,” she said. “Recently an Ethiopian women posing as the hall’s manager entered to the bride’s room and stole her jewelry and some of her gifts. The woman gained access by bringing a box of flowers and claming that she was the hall’s supervisor. Then she asked to place the complimentary flowers inside the bride’s room. She told the bride’s mother that she needed to place the finishing touches on the room. The mother fell for the scam and the women walked out with jewelry worth tens of thousands of riyals.”
She added that most families here don’t allow them to dig deep in people’s identities, as most families tend to welcome everyone in their celebrations out of hospitality.