JEDDAH, 24 January An Asian housemaid and her two accomplices in Taif have been arrested on charges of poisoning her employer to death.
The death of Faisal Saeed Al-Ghamdi, 36, last October was initially said to have been the result of natural causes by the doctors who treated him. They diagnosed him with kidney failure and a badly damaged liver.
However, Okaz reported on Tuesday that it has subsequently been discovered that his housemaid had poisoned him.
In her confessions to police, the maid said she was persuaded by an Indian laborer — with whom, it is alleged, she was having an affair — to kill Faisal because the Saudi had found about their secret.
The laborer, who made plans to leave the country, admitted during investigations that a friend who is a pharmacist supplied him with poison that would bring about a slow death. The pharmacist admitted that he had prepared the poison by mixing several pesticides with yogurt.
The pharmacist, who shared a flat with the laborer, said he gave the poison as a gift. It was then passed on to the maid.
Faisal’s symptoms started about a month before his death. They included a general weakness, followed by severe aches all over his body. He also suffered from low blood pressure and a severe cough. He was treated at various hospitals in Taif and Jeddah.
However, the real cause of his death was disclosed by a housemaid working next door.
The suspect had confided to her the method in which she had got rid of her employer. The maid let out the secret to her own employer, who contacted the police.
In a macabre twist to the case, Faris, a younger brother of Faisal, has recently developed many of the symptoms Faisal was suffering from before his death.
