The mysterious deaths of Asra Alsehli and Amaal Alsehli: Sisters had fled Saudi Arabia in 2017
New South Wales police are renewing their appeal for information after the decomposed bodies of two women were found inside a unit in Sydney's southwest last month. The bodies of Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were found in their first-floor unit in Canterbury, on June 7. According to Daily Mail, Detective Claudia Allcroft said investigators believe the women died in early May, a month before their decomposing remains were uncovered by officers conducting a welfare check. "Detectives are interested in speaking with anyone who may have seen or who may have information about the women's movements in the days and weeks prior to their deaths," she said.
The remains of the two women were mysteriously found with no sign of injury. Cops made the grim discovery after the building manager became concerned when mail began to pile up outside their first-floor apartment and they failed to pay rent for four weeks. Even though there were no signs of forced entry and no signs of injury, cops are treating the deaths of the sisters as "suspicious". As per the reports of Daily Mail Australia, the siblings fled Saudi Arabia without their family in 2017 when they were 18 and 19.
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They were engaged with a refugee service for five years, which helps foreign nationals escape persecution and seek asylum. They had little contact with their family back home which makes it hard for police to locate their relatives so they can identify the bodies. Asra took an AVO against a 28-year-old man in late 2018, but it was later withdrawn and dismissed in January the following year. In another court matter, the owner of their Canterbury unit filed a civil case against Asra on May 13 this year. Landlords can issue tenants with legal warning notices via the civil court for overdue rent before taking further action to have them removed from the property. That action was taken four weeks after sheriff's officers went to the apartment to serve the women with an eviction notice alongside police and the grisly discovery was made. Before the bodies were discovered, there had been two prior welfare checks.
Locals said the women were cheerful towards neighbours, despite their traumatic past. During one check, the women were described as "timid" and refused to let anyone enter the flat. "They were standoffish and didn't really want to talk. Something felt off, but they said they were ok. What more could anyone do?" said a local. The first welfare check was reportedly conducted in March, with officers leaving after the women insisted they were fine. Staff at a nearby service station said the women started visiting in 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, and were regulars until May when they stopped passing by. They described the pair, one brunette and the other dyed blonde as 'quiet' but 'very friendly', and said they would only respond to questions. The pair spoke English "relatively well" but they were withdrawn and kept to themselves. One female attendant said the sisters would visit the store to pick up drinks during the day, but only appeared to fill up their black BMW coupe with petrol at night, according to Daily Mail. "One girl would come in to buy iced coffee and sometimes V [energy drink]. Sometimes two or three times a day" she said. "I never served her sister but I would see them walking up the street together. When I found out what happened to them, I was very shocked and confused. She was so friendly. Every time she came in and I talked to her she would smile. She never looked sad."
Two months after the welfare checks, their rent stopped being paid and their mail started piling up at the door. Neighbor Alan Ho told the Daily Telegraph, "It's usually a pretty tame area so it's pretty concerning to hear about something like this." Another neighbour said, "It's sort of scary to know this is what's happening in your own neighbourhood, we hear sirens go up and down all the time... and then to be so close to home, it's quite scary."
In 2019, a Four Corners report found around 80 Saudi Arabian women had tried to seek asylum in Australia in recent years. The investigation found that many of them were fleeing Saudi Arabia's male guardianship laws, which allow their husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles and sons to control their lives. The sisters' reasons for leaving their homeland remain unclear and neither of the two victims has been formally identified.