RIYADH, 27 June 2004 — The Pakistani expatriate community here was badly shaken as more details emerged of the brutal double murder at the Seder Village residential compound here on Thursday night. The Arab News bureau was inundated with calls of condolence for the bereaved family.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy yesterday said Amina Abdullah and Amina Nuzhat Usman were killed in what appeared an attempted rape by the Filipino suspect.
Raza Otho, the consular deputy head of mission, also revealed that Amina Abdullah was pregnant.
“The suspect involved in the killing of the two women has not been apprehended so far,” according to Pervez Junejo, a community welfare attache at the Pakistani Embassy.
“The bodies may be released within the next three or four days, after which they will be flown to Pakistan,” he said.
“We have also informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the murder of the two women, while pursuing the case with local police,” he said.
“We are also in touch with the family of the victims,” he said.
Syed Atif Usman, the husband and son of the victims, “is not feeling well and is not in a position to speak to the press,” Junejo said.
He said a report quoting family sources that the mouth of the two women had been taped shut was not true.
A Filipino diplomat said the Philippine Embassy was trying to find out more information about the case.
In a message of condolence, Gul Muhammed Butta of the Pakistan Press Club here said better security “should be in place to prevent these kinds of ugly incidents.”
Butta condemned the crime and said his organization prayed the family would “garner strength to bear the loss.”
Sharif Kandil, a senior sales executive, expressed the shock and consternation of many that the crime could happen at a heavily guarded residential compound at a time of increased vigilance over terrorists attacks.
The compound’s own security apparatus has been upgraded following the terror attacks in Riyadh. Seder Village compound was in the news last December when the US and British Embassies relayed warnings of an imminent terror attack on the compound.
Richard D. May, the Seder Village manager, said in a statement the house was not broken into or ransacked and nothing appeared to have been stolen. “The suspect previously worked in Seder Village for some two years, knew the victims and was fully aware of the layout of the house,” he said.
After the murder, the suspect apparently simply got into his car and drove away. Police later recovered the car and a bloodstained shirt.
But Richard May was keen to counter reports questioning compound security, saying the suspect “was well known to the residents and his presence in the compound was not a security issue and his escape certainly not shrouded in mystery.”
“The compound defenses are intended to keep terrorists out and are not designed to keep people in. As it was, the suspect drove out when the gates opened to allow a resident in,” said the Seder Village manager. “The village has three checkpoints coming in, but only one going out,” he added.
May said the victims and the husband had been residents in Seder Village “for two years or so, and we mourn the death of the residents, who were well-liked in our community and our sympathy goes out to the husband in this dreadful tragedy.”
