A security source told Arab News that an altercation
between two groups of inmates started at 9 a.m. as they watched television.
One group demanded that the sound volume be reduced.
"When the verbal exchange between the inmates
developed into a fistfight, women officials at the facility called police to
quell the fighting," the source said.
A team of officers comprising patrol police, criminal
investigators and security police rushed to the center soon after receiving
information about the incident. Security agents questioned the girls to learn
the reasons behind the fighting.
Police have transferred the case to the Commission for
Investigation and Public Prosecution, which will question the girls involved in
the fighting on Wednesday. Arab News tried to contact Noura Al-Asheikh, head of
the women's section at the Social Affairs Department in Makkah, but she did not
respond.
Earlier this year, a similar incident took place in the
center when four inmates and some social workers were injured.
Over 65 security men including 15 women jail guards
managed to restore order at the facility as inmates staged a violent protest
when the Ministry of Social Affairs rejected their demands to replace the
facility's director, some employees and liaison officers.
