Dubai: Saudi Arabia will make amendments to rules governing religious police after the ‘horrific’ death of a Saudi man and injuries to his family members after their car was chased by religious police (mutawa) earlier this month, Saudi media reports said.
“A set of procedures to govern the country’s Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice Commission’s chasing of people will soon be released,” the head of the commission, Abdul Latif Al Shaikh, was quoted as saying in Saudi media, including Al Watan newspaper and Al Arabiyah.net.
The statement came days after the incident “shocked the Saudi public”.
Earlier, Saudi media had reported that four members of the religious police had been arrested for allegedly causing the situation that led to the death of Abdul Rahman Al Gamdi and left his wife and two children with injuries in Al Baha region in the south-western part of the kingdom.
The four will be charged with “abusing power, chasing a man with his family while ignoring instructions given to members of the committee completely banning chases”, local media said quoting sources at the religious police.
According to the reported details of the accident, the family was approached by a member of the committee “who complained their car stereo was on loudly”.
After an argument with the policemen, the 34-year-old Saudi man drove off whereupon the police chased him. His car met with an accident at an intersection. The man died at the scene while his wife suffered severe injuries and her right hand was later amputated. Their two children, aged 4 and 9, sustained injuries as well with their son stated to be in critical condition while the daughter’s condition has since stabilised.
The religious police had asked the local authority in the region to carry out an investigation into the incident, Al Shaikh said in previously published statements.
Al Shaikh, a relative moderate, was appointed in January as the new chief of the anti-vice force. His appointment raised hopes for a more lenient force that would ease social restrictions. Within the first two weeks of assuming charge, Al Shaikh banned volunteers from serving in the commission which enforces the kingdom’s strict Islamic rules.