JEDDAH, 31 March 2005 — Security forces have arrested eight men and two women for their roles in the murder of two Yemeni women and a five-year-old girl in Taif last week, police said yesterday.
Initial investigations revealed that the 10 suspects were Africans who were wanted for several crimes including armed robbery. They are also linked with a gang, which killed a 60-year-old woman in Qamariya district and a Sudanese woman in Al-Salama district.
The suspects confessed that they killed the three members of the Yemeni family to rob them of their money and valuables.
The criminals have been using various methods to reach their victims. They used women of same nationality to collect information of targeted houses in addition to conducting field surveys.
People in Taif and surrounding villages heaved a sigh of relief after hearing reports of the criminals’ arrest.
The triple murder that took place in Salihiya district of Taif had sent shockwaves among the public. It was the third such incident to rock the city in the past few months.
In the latest incident, a Yemeni expatriate worker found his mother, wife and four-year-old daughter strangled to death when he returned home from work.
“Security officers have been able to unravel the mystery surrounding the triple murder,” a statement issued by the public security said. It said police had identified eight members of the gang involved in the crime as well as their two women accomplices.
“It was clear that the gang members were ready to go to any length to realize their criminal objectives,” the statement said. The suspects were staying in the Kingdom in violation of the country’s iqama and labor regulations, it added.
Public Security Director Gen. Saeed Al-Qahtani commended the efforts of his officers in tracking down the criminals.
A four-member gang, which was also involved in several mobile phone thefts, confessed that they killed the old woman in Al-Qamariya district for the purpose of robbery. They had taken away SR16,000 after killing her.
