RIYADH, 25 January 2005 — Police arrested an Arab expatriate who burned his daughters and granddaughters with acid in Al-Suwaidi district in the southern part of Riyadh, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported yesterday.
A police source said the scene of the crime was checked and an investigation was opened in preparation for reporting the case to the Investigations and Prosecution Commission. The source ruled out the possibility of releasing the expatriate on bail.
The doctors treating the injured girls in Riyadh Medical Complex, including Dr. Mustafa Hamdan and Dr. Farouq Dassouqi, confirmed that the condition of the girls is stable. However, one of them who is nine months pregnant, is still in the intensive care unit as she is suffering from deep burns that may require surgery, whereas the burns of the other girls appear to be superficial and range between 5 percent and 7 percent. They pointed out that a judgment cannot be passed on their condition at present as to whether they will need cosmetic surgery or not.
Tariq Al-Yusuf, the husband of one of the victims, said that he had married only ten days ago. He allowed his wife to visit her family on the first day of the Eid feast to greet them and attend dinner after her father invited her. He said he knew beforehand his father-in-law’s nature, as he blackmailed him and his wife and interfered in his personal affairs several times. This forced him to change his home telephone number.
“But it never occurred to me that he would carry out such a crime in this barbaric manner against his daughters whatever the excuses,” Al-Yusuf said.
He expressed fears that the hospital would force him to pay the bill for his wife’s treatment as he is a non-Saudi. He hinted that he cannot bear the treatment expenses as he does not have a steady source of income. He appealed to the officials to assist them and bear the treatment expenses.
The brother of the victims, only identified as A.M., said that his father used to maltreat him and his sisters continually.
He said his father was the cause for his sisters’ divorce from their husbands. He said this forced him to leave home and live elsewhere with one of his sisters. A.M. said he came to know about the incident while visiting one of his friends.
Al-Watan had earlier reported that an Arab expatriate poured acid on three of his daughters, two granddaughters and the mother-in-law of one of his daughters after confining them in one of the rooms in his house.
