The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) is investigating bid to kidnap a five-year-old girl in the Prophet's City. A Saudi woman is alleged to have kidnapped the girl with the help of a male Arab expatriate. Attempt to kidnap the girl, Layan, was foiled by police officials Saturday. Preliminary information showed that the Saudi woman is a divorcee in her 30s who trades in herbs near Sayyid Al-Shohada cemetery and lives in Al-Mataar District. The woman and the co-accused are not related, local media reported Monday. The expatriate allegedly used his seven-year-old niece to attract Layan. Col. Fahd Al-Ghanam, Madina Police spokesman, was quoted as saying that a citizen called the police and reported his five-year-old niece missing. Police officers were dispatched to the scene where they gathered information about the kidnappers and launched an extensive search. They were able to locate Layan in less than 30 minutes. It turned out that the Arab expatriate lives close to the woman and gave her a ride to the little girl's house. He was arrested and then showed officers where Layan was being kept. The Saudi woman was arrested by officers just after she unlocked her front door. The two little girls were with her. The expatriate and the Saudi woman were arrested while the expatriate's wife and sister are under investigation. Abdul Hadi Al-Harbi, Layan's father, said that his daughter was playing outside with her brothers and sisters when she vanished. “My children went upstairs to their mother and told her that Layan had gone missing. Her uncles and neighbors started combing the district and called the police. “They suspected the Arab expatriate who was sitting in his car and told the police about him. They arrested the expatriate and started asking him questions about Layan. He admitted he knew who kidnapped her. The kidnappers planned the whole thing.” Layan's father said he would be forever grateful to the vigilant police officers who rescued his daughter.
