Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — A year on, the people of Riyadh have not forgotten the horrific incident of a woman’s murder by her twin sons last Ramadan as an offering to the terror group Daesh (the so-called Islamic State).
It was a black day for the residents of Riyadh. People woke up on that Friday last Ramadan to that shocking news, which was the first of its kind in Saudi society. Twin brothers Saleh and Khaled Ibrahim Al-Arini butchered their mother Hila Abdullah with a machete inside the warehouse of their home in Al-Hamra neighborhood. They even tried to kill their father and younger brother Sulaiman who tried to intervene.
The incident took place on June 24, 2016 (Ramadan 19, 1437). Sources revealed to Al-Riyadh newspaper that the case was still under investigation and the prosecution authorities were completing the procedures for referring the defendants to the courts.
The twins were arrested in Al-Kharj during a failed bid to escape toward the Yemen border.
The twins, after committing the heinous crime, stole a car and headed to Al-Kharj on their way to Yemen, but they stopped in front of a shop in Al-Dilam, where they stole another car. The owner of the car reported the theft to the police, leading to their arrest.
A police patrol saw the missing vehicle on Al-Khufas Road and tried to stop it, but the twins changed their route. The patrol team informed the operations room and police units rushed to the site. They succeeded in stopping the car and arresting the duo, who turned out to be the twins wanted for the murder of their mother.
The twins were born in 1417 AH. They stopped their education after completing high school.
On the day of the incident, one of the neighbors heard a loud scream from the twins’ house and rushed in there. He saw 70-year-old Ibrahim Al-Arini and his 18-year-old son Sulaiman bleeding and took them to Sanad Hospital.
The mother’s body was discovered when her elder son arrived home. His younger sister had locked herself in a room to save her life.
The father and son were released from hospital 10 days later. Their injuries were not life-threatening. Most of the stabs received by the father was in his hands because he tried to avoid blows to his chest and abdomen with his hands.
The Interior Ministry released a statement revealing the motives behind the attack. The twins’ mother had learned about their desire to travel to Syria and join Daesh and had tried to dissuade them. When Saleh and Khaled failed to heed her pleas, she threatened to report them to the authorities, which provoked the young men. They considered her an infidel and decided to kill her, the twins said in their testimony.
The twins studied in an expensive private school in Riyadh and were reportedly among the best students. They had received full attention from their parents.
