JEDDAH: The Court of Grievances has postponed a hearing into the case of a teenage girl who drowned in the Red Sea to the end of the Islamic month of Safar next year.
The family of Fatima is holding the Jeddah municipality responsible for neglecting their duty in the discharge of sewage into the sea, which they believe played a part in her death.
Fatima’s father Ali Al-Saab confirmed to Arab News that a municipality representative attended a preliminary hearing and denied all charges.
“I am surprised at the municipality representative who demanded to see witnesses who saw my daughter drown. The whole world saw the incident,” he said.
“There were people who took clips of the incident but the municipality representative took their cell phones from them. I am not going to back up. I will still demand to hold those responsible for killing my daughter accountable.”
Fatima was picnicking with her family at Al-Nawras on July 9 when she disappeared into the sea. Her body was found on July 20 about a kilometer south of Al-Nawras after a search operation that involved divers and boats.
It is believed that Fatima somehow drowned and a sewage discharge pipe swept her body away from the area. It is unknown if the teen fell into the water or if the strong current played a part in her drowning.
The shoreline in the area gives way to water around 10 meters deep, on the other side of a strip of rocks along the shore that was placed to prevent erosion.
