RIYADH, 21 July 2003 — Security forces in the mountainous city of Abha on Saturday foiled a kidnap and rape attempt on a 25-year-old woman in Al-Shallal garden. Two of the attackers were Saudi and one Yemeni, Okaz newspaper reported yesterday.
On Saturday evening, police received a call from the family of the girl who told authorities that their daughter had gone missing in Al-Shallal garden on Hizam Road.
Police immediately launched a search, and security checkpoints were installed at the entry and exit roads of the city. Several patrol cars were asked to sweep the area in an attempt to find the girl’s captors.
Police were able to arrest one of the Saudi abductors when he released the woman from his private car after spotting a police checkpoint in the distance.
The capture of the Saudi led to the arrest of the two other suspects involved in the kidnapping. Security sources told the newspaper that the Saudi national, who was mentally disturbed, tried to spirit the girl to the nearby city of Khamis Mushayt in an attempt to rape her. The three suspects are being interrogated by the police. The young woman has returned to her family.
