”How my Saudi Arabian husband killed our daughters” – Bereaved Nigerian Woman Narrates

In a sad tale, a bereaved Nigerian, Fatima Mohamid Khalil, has narrated how her husband allegedly slaughtered their three daughters in Al-Rawdah District, Makkah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

According to Fatima, her daughters were sleeping with her in the main bedroom when their Saudi Arabian father woke them up quite early. She said,

“This was an unusual act, but when I asked him why, he said that his father was coming to visit and that his three daughters needed to say hello to their grandfather.”

According to the Saudi Gazette, the distraught woman said her husband took the three daughters to another room. She didn’t suspect anything, but after a while, she became suspicious and decided to go check what was happening. She added,

”I was shocked to see my middle daughter, Rimaz in his hands, soaked in her blood after he had slaughtered her with a knife. I tried to rescue her, but he pushed me away and I fell down. When I got up, he had already slaughtered our eldest and youngest daughters.”

Fatima said that she tried to run out, but discovered that the door had been locked. She frantically searched for the key. While doing this, her husband changed his bloodstained clothes and calmly asked her to go with him to their grandmother’s house. Fatima said;

”He acted as if nothing happened. He went out as if nothing had happened. I started crying and neighbours came, but it was too late.”

Fatima stated that her husband was a retired security guard, receiving a pension of SR4, 000, which was not enough to pay the house rent and meet other expenses. He was owing three months rent and was indebted to their grocer by more than SR800.

The woman said her life with the husband was turbulent, but she continued with him for the sake of her daughters.

Fatima is an orphan, who lost both her parents at an early age. She was brought up by her grandmother and an aunt.

Following the harrowing incident, Fatima, in her late 20s, had a nervous breakdown and was taken to King Faisal Hospital in Al-Shesha where she was sedated.

She said she would never go back to her apartment in Al-Rawdah District in Makkah, so as not to see the blood of her daughters.

The woman recalled that a week before the catastrophe, he brought his daughters together, showed them a knife and threatened to slaughter them one after the other.

”He said that he would kill the three girls. Later, the girls cried, asking for their mother. Our neighbours heard their cries and informed the police, who came and arrested him, but he was soon released on bail,” she said.

Fatima said the police brought her daughters to her at her grandmother’s house and their father started visiting them every day for about two weeks.

“He took me back to his apartment with our daughters the night of the incident. This was just a few hours before he committed his heinous crime.”

The man admitted to the police that he had killed his three daughters but didn’t say why. The police believe that the man is a drug addict.

The neighbors did not notice anything unusual with the man who never uttered more than a passing hello.

Speaking of how she met her husband, Fatima said she came to know about him some seven years ago when she received a call from an unknown number.

According to her, the man on the other line refused to answer her question on how he obtained her number but told her that he wanted to marry her.

She said few weeks later, he came to her home, met with her aunt’s husband and discussed plans to marry her with him. She said,

”He paid SR12,000 as dowry and the marriage contract was conducted by a mazoun (marriage official) at a mosque in Al-Mansour District,” she said. Three years later, the mazoun died,” she added.

She further revealed that nobody from his family attended the edding and when she asked him why, he told her that they were living far away and it was not easy for any of them to come. A year after, Fatima said she was blessed with her first daughter who brought joy and happiness to her life.

She said her life with him was far from quiet as he turned out to be a drug addict who would stay awake for five nights and sleep for three days.

”He used to spend between four to five hours in the bathroom,” she said.

Fatima said their marriage was not regular according to the Kingdom’s laws but the husband promised to complete the procedures later.

”He did not fulfill his promise. He never added his three daughters in the family registry but he did issue me with an iqama,” she said.

The wife said her husband documented their marriage in a paper issued by the Makkah police who asked him to refer to the concerned authorities to complete the marriage procedures but he did not.

”He used to spend long hours talking to girls on the telephone alleging that they were his friends,” she said.

Photo credit: Saudi Gazette