SMS saves four kidnapped women in Saudi

A Saudi man who kidnapped a woman and her three daughters was arrested by police after one of them managed to send out a text message just seconds before he seized their mobile phones, a local daily said on Monday. The four women were walking back home after having suhoor (Ramadan dawn meal) at a nearby restaurant in Makkah just after midnight when the 26-year-old man stopped his Lexus car and offered them a lift, Sahafa Online said. After initial hesitation, they got into the car. Instead of taking them home, the man sped out of the city towards the desert after threatening them with a knife. “Just before he took their mobiles, one of the daughters managed to send a SMS to her sister at home…her sister phoned the police, who sent out patrols to that area south of the city,” the paper said. Once out of town, the man got off the road and drove his car into the desert before it got stuck in the sand, prompting the four women to flee. As he chased the women, a shepherd who saw them phoned the police and rush for their help. The kidnapper then fled on foot into the desert but was later caught by police after a five-km chase, the paper said.