year-old Asma Khadim Hussain was married 18 months ago, her mother could never have imagined that she would have to perform the last rites for her young daughter who died under ‘unusual circumstances'. “My daughter did not have a natural death. She was killed by her husband Mumtaz Husain, a laundry manager at a five-star hotel in Madina. I am sure she was poisoned,” said Farakh Taj, Asma's mother. She said that Hussain was already married with children but had not disclosed this to her daughter before their marriage. “My daughter had an argument with him when she learnt that her husband had four children with his first wife. I asked Hussain to divorce my daughter if his marriage to my daughter was a cause of a problem between him and his first wife. He, however, refused and from the very second day of marriage, he broke off relations with us, not allowing Asma to meet us,” Taj said. Asma's parents had been living in the Kingdom, but a year and a half after their daughter's marriage, Taj said, they left for Pakistan. “I was with Asma when she gave birth to her daughter. I left when the newborn was 16-days-old.” She said there were problems when Hussain's son by his first wife started urging his father to divorce Asma. Hussain had not informed anyone back home of his second marriage, Taj explained. But things took an ugly turn when 19 days after Asma's parents left the Kingdom, they received a call from Hussain saying that Asma had met with an accident. “Her husband did not tell us exactly what had happened. I asked him to help me with the documents so that I could come to see my daughter, but he refused. He said that it was a car accident and that he also had suffered injuries,” said Taj, who is in Madina now. Taj then asked her other daughter who lived in Jeddah to find out how Asma was. “We learned through her sister that Asma was poisoned and that she was in critical condition. The doctor said she had consumed a poisonous liquid,” Taj said. She alleged that Hussain poisoned Asma with a chemical that he must have brought from the laundry. “I went to the police in Madina to request a proper investigation, but the police said that Hussain had told them that he brought home the chemical in a beverage bottle and had given it to Asma by mistake,” Taj said. “According to Asma, who spoke when she was under treatment in the hospital, she was having dinner and when she asked for water, Hussain went to his car and brought a Pepsi bottle. She took a sip of the liquid and immediately realized that it was not water. She shouted in pain,” Taj added. Taj says that she now demands justice from the government. “How is it possible that any company or a responsible person can allow someone to fill bottles with a dangerous chemical, without anyone knowing about it?” she asked. Taj has approached the Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah for help. Asma's father had also sent an application to the Consulate requesting an investigation. “Mumtaz Husain came to us on April 14 to obtain an NOC for the burial of Asma Mumtaz. He provided us with a medical report, two witnesses and a written application that Asma was his wife,” said Nusrallah Khan, Pakistani welfare consul. “We received another application on April 18 from the parents of Asma alleging that their daughter was murdered. We had the application translated into Arabic and sent it to Madina police for investigation and another copy with a note from the welfare officer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Khan said. Asma's parents have also filed an application against their son-in-law in Islamabad and the Consulate here has received an application from MLA Murtaza Javaid Abbasi, chairman of the standing committee, regarding the burial of Asma's body, which had not been buried until now as the police are still investigating the matter. “The police say that the investigation is complete and that Asma wasn't murdered. But I don't believe that it was only an accident,” said Taj. The Pakistani Consulate has granted permission for the burial on the basis of medical certificates obtained from King Fahad Hospital. However, a report by Dr. Abdul Man'am of the Internal Medicine Department of the same hospital says that the same poisonous liquid was consumed by Hussain, who was admitted to the hospital for three days. “It doesn't make sense why Hussain would go out to get water. Also, he must have just placed a drop of the chemical on his tongue so as to prove that it was all an accident.” “If he is telling the truth,” Taj continued, “why didn't he send me the documents so that I could come to Jeddah to see my daughter was struggled for her life for almost 19 days?” Taj said she is helpless as she is not able to provide enough proof and, therefore, requests the Saudi government and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, to help her. She has also sent an application requesting an investigation to the Governor of Madina, and she wants to apply for the custody of her four-month old granddaughter. She said the police in Madina have given the permission for the burial to take place. Meanwhile, Hussain told Saudi Gazette that his wife's death was an accident that happened because he works in a laundry. “Our purchase manager orders chemicals for the hotel from a company called Sidco. The company sent a sample in a bottle of Pepsi, which my assistant supervisor handed over to me,” he said. Hussain blamed the company and its manager for sending the chemical in a soft drink bottle and claimed that the company has accepted its mistake. He said he would provide Saudi Gazette with the company's number when he finds it. He has since then not responded to any Saudi Gazette calls. “The supervisor told me that it was a Pepsi sample. I said that it is not my job to test the sample and that it should be sent to the food manager. However, due to a communication error, I took the bottle home,” Hussain said. Refuting Hussain's ‘story', Taj said that Pepsi is not a new product that needs to be sample tested. “I have been working in the Kingdom for 25 years now and I am aware of the rules and regulations here. I know I will be in trouble if I do something wrong,” Hussain said, adding that because Asma was on her father's iqama, he had been preparing to bring her on a new visa. Hussain said he had lost Asma's passport that was in her bag, which she took along with her to the hospital. “The police should ask him how Asma was able to take her bag with her to the hospital when she was in an unstable condition,” said Asma's mother. She also said that because Hussain was soon going to Pakistan to meet his family, who were pressuring him to end his second marriage, he must have conspired to kill Asma. “Moreover, he is not allowing us to see our granddaughter,” Taj added. Saudi Gazette discussed the implications of the case with Faisal Qassar, a well-known lawyer in Jeddah. “It is not possible that you drink poison when you have someone dying in front of you because of consuming the same poison. Although there is no proof against Hussain,” Qassar said. He said Taj should submit an application to the Governor of Madina requesting a thorough investigation, which he said is necessary before any lawyer can take up the case. “As for the custody of their granddaughter, Taj can approach the Madina court and apply for the custody sighting a lack of trust in her son-in-law as reason for the request. A psychiatrist, requesting anonymity, said that in a case such as Asma's, homicidal tendency cannot be ruled out “though in many cases we see a strong human intent. Laundry chemicals have a strong smell and a harsh taste, hence, the case should be investigated by the police,” he said. Saudi Gazette could not contact Dr. Abdul Man'am, who wrote the medical report, in spite of making repeated efforts. Meanwhile, Asma's mother has requested help. “I don't know anyone here in the Kingdom nor do I have the resources to fight a court case,” she said.
