WADI BIN HASBAL: An autopsy is scheduled to be performed Saturday on the body of Mut'ib Hamoud, the 19-year-old who committed suicide while in the custody of Bin Hasbal Police six days ago. Hamoud's father told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that Mut'ib was the youngest of 12 children and the only one yet to have left home following marriage or employment. “He was still in the first year of secondary school,” said 65-year-old Hamoud Bin Saeed Al-Shahrani. “We were very close, and he was hoping to find a job and get married.” He said that his son's death was preceded by a fight between his son and a policeman late last Friday night at Wadi Bin Hasabal Police station. “He then ran away, but they went after him and when they couldn't find him they took me into custody and I was put in jail from 10 P.M. till 2 A.M. when they found him,” he said. “I went back to the station Saturday morning to see him, and I'd taken clothes and food with me, but they wouldn't let me visit him and told me to come back later. Some friends and relatives tried to visit him after Maghreb prayer the same day but they wouldn't let them see him either.” Al-Shahrani said that at precisely 3 A.M. Sunday he was awoken by a knock at the door. “There were three policemen there, and they asked me to go down to the station with them,” he said. “I was extremely worried, and when we arrived I found a whole group of officers standing there, and one of them told someone to bring me some water.” He was then informed that his son had died. “They took me down to the basement cells, and there I saw my son hanging by the neck a meter above the floor. I couldn't understand how he had managed to get hold of a rope and hang it from the high window above the door, or how he got up there to hang from it.” He said the officers tried to persuade him of the suicide and relinquish any charges. “But I refused and asked for an investigation to find out how my son died and who was responsible,” he said. Relatives of the deceased have also asked the Human Rights Commission to inspect the detention area at Bin Hasbal Police station.
