By Ibrahim Alawi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – The Ministry of Interior has finally closed the case of what was known in the local media as “Al-Samer girl” after it announced the execution of the young woman’s murderer on Wednesday, seven years after the crime took place, sparking outrage in the city.

In a statement, the ministry said Majed Thabat Thabit Al-Baladi, a Saudi national, was executed for killing Ebtisam Shami Muhammad Al-Mashi, also a Saudi, by hitting her hard on the head and other parts of her body following a dispute between them.

The murder took place seven years ago. The victim was found lying motionless on the street near a public park at Al-Samer neighborhood in east Jeddah.

The murderer, who was 29 years old at the time, was caught less than 24 hours after the victim’s body was found. His 24-year-old accomplice was also arrested.

The investigations showed that the motive of the murder was revenge.

Al-Baladi talked the woman into meeting him at a villa in north Jeddah where he strangled her and beat her on the head with a sharp object. After making sure she was dead, he called his accomplice to help him get rid of the corpse. They both threw the woman’s body at Al-Samer neighborhood around 7 a.m. next morning.

A passerby called the police after seeing the body. The forensic doctor’s report showed that the victim had a deep wound in the head and bad contusions all over the face and the trunk, including marks of burn in the back and the chest.

The Criminal Court in Jeddah convicted Al-Baladi of premeditated murder and sentenced him to death. The sentence was approved by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, and a royal decree was issued to carry out the sentence.

The accomplice was sentenced to five years in prison.