Police officers initially thought the child might have been kidnapped by the family and distributed photographs of the child for publication in the local press.

However, following a DNA test police were able to find the child’s father who had given the child to the Asian family to look after. “The father recently divorced the child’s mother, an Arab woman. He then took custody of the child and kept it in the care of the Asian family,” said First Lt. Nawwaf Al-Bouq.

“We’ve handed the case to the General Investigation and Prosecution Board for further investigations,” he added.

Jeddah police recently arrested a Saudi who falsely claimed that his three-year-old daughter was kidnapped by his maid. Police said the man made the complaint after falling out with an Indonesian family who was taking care of the child on his behalf after he divorced the child’s mother.