The arrested include five Saudis and one Pakistani national who gathered at a furnished apartment in front of the Children’s Hospital in Taif for a drinking party, according to Lt. Saleem Al-Robaie, acting spokesman for Taif police.
He told Arab News the gang members escaped after throwing a seriously injured Saudi youth near the gate of the hospital.
Police rushed to the scene after receiving a call from a hospital employee. The victim died from his injuries immediately after being admitted to King Faisal Hospital. Police launched a manhunt and nabbed all members of the gang. They were put in separate cells and interrogated.
Taif police’s criminal investigation department had confirmed the murder two days ago. The murderer, also a Saudi, stabbed the victim repeatedly following a dispute between them.
According to police sources, the alleged murderer is a known criminal. The 26-year-old man, also known as “Al-Seesi,” was accused of being involved in several crimes, including thefts at a number of commercial shops. He has also been accused of attacking several foreign workers and robbing them of their money and valuables.
The accused, a notorious criminal infamous for brewing and selling huge quantities of arrack, was previously sentenced to six years of imprisonment. He was freed after spending four years in jail, taking advantage of a royal pardon during the fasting month of Ramadan.
According to police sources, after the attack the man reached home in Taif’s Hada region, sleeping as if nothing unusual had happened.
When police raided his home and arrested him, he asked whether the stabbed man was dead or not. When they lied to him and said the victim was still alive, the man reacted coolly that he was sure that the victim would not die as the stab wounds were light. He then asked for a cigarette from the policemen.
The 22-year-old victim sustained three fatal stabs. He sustained a deep stab wound on his throat and two others in the back. His death was caused by uncontrollable bleeding following the attack.
When the victim cried for help, two of the gang members took him and abandoned him at the gate of the hospital. The arrest of the Pakistani gang member was crucial in nabbing the others.
After sustaining stab wounds during the attack, the Pakistani man approached the hospital where the victim was being treated.
In the beginning, he claimed that the wounds were sustained in an attack by a group of people. However, he later said that it was caused by a knife as he tried to stop the stabbing.
