Manama: Police in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province said that a six-year-old girl was murdered after her stepmother picked her up from school.
Reem Al Rashidi was with her classmates at their school in Al Ahsa and attended the first and second periods of the school day on Monday until 8.45am.
However, her stepmother came to the school and asked to take her home, backing her request by showing them the family ID card.
Under Saudi rules, a pupil is granted permission to leave the school if either parent shows the school management a family ID card proving that the child is theirs.
However, the stepmother, the second wife of Reem’s father who lived with the family, fooled the school authorities by pretending she was her biological mother and was granted the permission to take her out, Saudi daily Sabq reported on Wednesday.
The stepmother then took Reem to an isolated area and cut her throat with a knife she had concealed, killing her on the spot.
An eyewitness who saw the gruesome act attempted to catch the murderer, but she fled the area before he could grab her. However, he identified the house she hid in and called the police.
Following a short siege, the police entered the house, arrested the killer and seized the knife.
The police confirmed the murder and said they received a call at around 9am on Monday from a Saudi citizen who reported the killing.
They rushed to the scene and found Reem’s lifeless body in an open space near the family home.
A spokesperson for the police said the murderer was a Saudi woman in her 30s who was arrested and referred to the public prosecution for investigation.
