Prosecutors are demanding the death penalty for a Saudi man in his 40s for allegedly abducting 10 girls aged 12 and under and raping some of them. Al-Watan Arabic daily reported at the weekend that the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution told the Jeddah District Court that the accused abducted the girls, all aged between six and 12, from public areas in Jeddah. He was detained in a village outside the city of Jeddah around one month ago. Ten victims were reported as having given statements and seven had made formal recognitions of the suspect during identity parades. Some of the victims were said to be unable to appear before the authorities due to “deteriorating mental conditions”. Al-Watan said that the suspect went to Jeddah from his home region in the province of Makkah and targeted children under lax observation by adults in shopping areas, public gardens and wedding halls. Some victims were abducted from streets neighboring their homes before later being released. One of the victims, the newspaper said, was abducted from a public hospital, and images captured on security cameras reportedly assisted in identifying the suspect. A source told the newspaper that the true number of victims was likely to be higher than 10, but that victims' silence or fear for their children's futures on the part of parents could lead to cases going unreported. Omar Al-Khouli, a legal adviser at the Human Rights Commission, said that the nature of the crime, its repetition, and the ages of the victims would likely lead to the death penalty. “Parents and particularly mothers should keep a close eye on their children, especially their daughters, and not leave them just under the observation of housemaids,” Al-Khouli told Al-Watan. “They should avoid being wholly dependent on housemaids when it comes to protecting young children.”
