Prince Fahd Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Tabuk region, has pledged to get to the bottom of allegations that local Hai'a members assaulted a woman and failed to turn her over to the police as required by law. Members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, known as the Hai'a, had detained the woman last week, had allegedly thrown her into a dark room, tried to tied her legs, choked her, tried to search her without permission and tried to remove her veil. When she had cried out for help, worshippers at a local mosque heard her screams and called the police. The Hai'a has denied the allegations. The Emir, however, has warned that people should not jump to conclusions and make premature judgments until the law has taken its course. Prince Fahd made the comments at a press conference on Tuesday. He said he has been following the case “minute by minute”. The Hai'a had arrested the woman after they allegedly received a call from a man who claimed the woman wanted to escape from her family in Jeddah. The woman has denied the claim. She said that she had only asked the man to take her to the bus station so she could leave Tabuk and return to her family in Jeddah. Prince Fahd said that the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) has already started an investigation into the woman's case. “If, during the course of the investigation, it is necessary for someone to be detained, he will be detained. And if the matter necessitates anyone to be suspended from work, he will be suspended,” said Prince Fahd. He emphasized that all the facts will be announced. The woman has claimed that the Hai'a staffers picked her up from the street while she was walking and rejected allegations that she was arrested while she was with the young man. She demanded that the authorities investigate the manner in which she was allegedly mistreated by the Hai'a members. “Even if I was mistaken, the manner in which they dealt with me was unethical. They could have asked me questions instead of attacking and stigmatizing me,” she said.
