Police said Monday they have cracked the mystery of a 29-year-old Saudi woman found dead late Saturday night in a supermarket parking lot in Al-Mansour district here. Makkah Police spokesman Zaki Al-Rehaily said a 30-year-old Saudi man has been arrested for the murder. They were lovers whose affair turned sour, Al-Rehaily said without revealing their names. The woman's body was found dumped in the parking lot in front of Top Ten shopping center late Saturday night. Police initially thought she was killed in a traffic accident. “But there was no blood on the body,” the spokesman said, “which made the death appear very suspicious.” When medical investigations showed that the victim had taken a severe beating, police launched an investigation and arrested the Saudi man within a day. He was sent to Al-Nafs police department for further investigations. According to Al-Rehaily, the suspect said on interrogation he had not meant to kill his lover. He told police that they had been in love for years and would meet in his apartment. He said there had been no violence in their relationship until he suspected her of seeing someone else. On Saturday morning they quarreled again in his apartment and he beat her on the back with a bathroom shower hose, the man told police. “The man said he had not meant to kill her, that it was not the first time he was beating her,” Al-Rehaily said. “He thought she was unconscious and kept her in his apartment for the whole day, waiting for her to wake up. When he realized she was dead, he dumped her in the parking lot late on Saturday night.” The two had agreed to get married, Al-Rehaily said, “but suspicion led him to beating her to death.” __
