MAKKAH, 7 March 2008 — A teenager, who disappeared from a school in Makkah last week, was found in a hysterical condition by border guards on Wednesday close to Jeddah’s Corniche after being raped. She was reported missing on Saturday.
The 16-year-old girl was taken to hospital for a checkup and was took to Makkah where she gave a statement to police about her ordeal, said Maj. Zaki Al-Ruhaili, acting spokesman for the Makkah police.
He added that investigations were continuing.
The girl was reported missing by her father, who had gone to pick her up from school in the Aziziyah District of Makkah.
He said he had come to collect his daughter and a niece, and that only one of the girls turned up. The niece told him that his daughter had become ill and was being helped by the school and that she had not seen her after that.
The father is accusing the Education Department and the school principal of not doing their jobs and for failing to inform him about his daughter’s condition.
However, the claims have been rebutted by the Education Department, which has provided a detailed report to the police in which it said that the girl had not become ill. The report said that the girl stayed at school until the end of her classes and that she left with her friends.
“The school is not responsible for girls after they leave the school building,” the report said, adding that the girl did not leave her books inside.
The report also added that the student sat an exam the same day she went missing and achieved a high grade.
