By Adnan Al-Shabrawi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Court of Appeals in Makkah has turned down a sentence issued by the Criminal Court in Jeddah on a Saudi woman who scalded her brother and his family members by throwing acid on them with the help of an accomplce.

The criminal court sentenced the woman to two years in prison while her accomplice who had thrown acid on the victims was handed four years in prison.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the sentence was very light and returned the case to the Public Prosecution, asking for a retrial.

After the retrial, the criminal court doubled the prison sentence on both the woman and her expatriate accomplice to four and eight years respectively.

Neither the woman nor his accomplice was identified. The Court of Appeals said what the accused did was an attempt at first-degree murder, which entails capital punishment.

The woman hired the man to burn down her brother and his family with whom she had difference over inheritance.

The Court of Appeals asked the prosecution to seek discretionary capital punishment for the two convicts and kept the private rights case open for the victims to demand redress at any time of their choice.

The court said the sentence should be harsher as the victims would have to live with distorted faces for the rest of their lives.

The crime dates back to about two years ago when the woman asked an expatriate man to pour acid on her brother, his wife and four children.

She paid the man SR50,000 in advance while promising to give him a million riyals in cash and a brand new car when the task was carried out successfully.

The woman told the court that she did not know the expatriate previously but had maintained contracts with him through social media for about six months.

Her accomplice said he had been watching the brother and his family members for the right opportunity to attack him. When he saw them coming out of a shopping mall one day, he approached the car and poured acid on them, he said.