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| Saudi Arabia's religious police enforce the country's strict Muslim code |
A family in
Saudi Arabia has accused religious police of being responsible for a fatal car
accident.
Morality
police argued with the driver of a car listening to children's songs with his
family in a park in Baha province, reports say.
The driver,
Abdulrahman al Ghamdi, drove off and was pursued by the police at speed before
losing control of the car and dying in the crash.
The
officers involved have been detained and are being questioned.
The
incident happened in early July near the small town of Baljurashi in the
south-western province.
After being
followed for several kilometres by the police, Mr al Ghamdi's car fell down a
bank at an overpass that was still under construction.
The
34-year-old's wife and two children survived the crash but were injured and
remain in hospital.
A photo of
the accident shows that the roof of the car was sheared off.
The Emir of
the Baha region is reported to have said he was appalled at how the religious
police behaved.
But
supporters of the religious police say they have been unfairly blamed. Part of
their role is to patrol the streets to stop what they see as infringements of
the country's strict Muslim code.
Some have
claimed that Mr al Ghamdi drove through a police checkpoint.
Mr al
Ghamdi's family want a fact-finding committee to be set up under the direct
supervision of the Emir of Baha.
A new head
of the religious police was appointed recently and he has tried to rein in some
of its excesses.
Incidents
like this will only add to a public mood that is increasingly impatient with
what many Saudis see as the religious police's arbitrary interference in their
lives.
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