TAIF, 22 November 2006 — Authorities here are searching for a 14-year-old girl and the maid the family accuses of playing a role in her disappearance, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported yesterday.
“In my absence the children’s grandfather came to visit,” said the father, whose name was not cited in the report. “He noticed that my daughter was missing and only then we learned about her disappearance.”
The father-in-law went to the police station last week after the grandfather came home to discover not only that the daughter was missing, but also that the house was smoking because the maid allegedly left the oven on. Two of the family’s younger boys were home alone at the time and the maid was also missing.
“My father-in-law had to break into the house,” said the man in his late 50s. “When he was in, he found the kids sleeping. The maid and my daughter had said earlier they were going to the market. The maid had apparently forgotten to turn off the stove in the kitchen. I waited for their return in vain. Then I went to the market to search for them, but I couldn’t find them.”
After feeling like the police weren’t taking his missing person’s report seriously, the man decided to take his story to the media. The father claims that people at the market said they saw a girl walking alone holding keys and who seemed to be in distress. They claim she got into a car with two young men whom people thought were either police or the girl’s relatives.
“I was glad that my wife’s father had come or else my two boys would have burned to death,” said the man.
The father said he believes that the maid may have left the oven on intentionally and may have kidnapped his daughter, though he admits this is merely speculation. He expressed hope that the police would find his daughter and that any criminal activity related to this incident would be prosecuted.
