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| A report from Australian current affairs programme Four Corners in 2019 found 80 Saudi women had tried to seek asylum in Australia in recent years. Many of them were fleeing male guardianship laws. Asra Abdullah Alsehli (left) and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli. (File photo by=NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Australian police are baffled after the bodies of two Saudi women, believed to have lain undiscovered for a month, were found in a Sydney apartment. Sisters Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were found dead on 7 June in separate beds at home in the suburb of Canterbury, BBC reported.
Police, who were called to the property for a welfare check, said the women are believed to have died in early May. But despite "extensive inquiries", they still don't know how or why. The sisters moved to Australia from Saudi Arabia in 2017 and may have sought asylum, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Police refused to confirm this, saying they don't comment on the residential status. A human rights organization said it should be established whether the women fled Saudi Arabia because of domestic violence or harsh laws governing women. However, there's no evidence this is the case.
Police said they had been in contact with the woman's family, which is assisting them with inquiries. Lina al-Hathloul, head of monitoring and communications at Saudi human rights organization ALQST, said it "would not be the first case" of Saudi women who were killed abroad after fleeing domestic violence. New South Wales Police issued a renewed plea to the public on Wednesday for information to help the case.
