Saudi sisters found dead in tragic ‘suicide pact’ were cut off by family as grim details emerge
TWO Saudi Arabian sisters found dead following a suspected suicide pact had been cut off from their family months earlier, police have claimed.
Grim details surrounding the deaths of Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24 and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, last year have now begun to emerge.
The pair were mysteriously found dead in their beds in separate rooms of their apartment in Sydney, Australia, on June 7, 2022.
But with no signs of forced entry or any injuries, investigators were left baffled by the case - until they began piecing together the sisters' final few months.
It has now been alleged that Asra and Amaal concocted a suicide pact after a "fall out" with their "well-connected" family in Saudi Arabia that left them fearing for their lives.
They had fled their homeland for Australia in 2017 with $5,000 in savings, but were believed to have been receiving financial support from relatives.
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New South Wales police suspect the cash flow suddenly dried up in February, with the sisters becoming recluses in their Canterbury apartment, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The siblings are understood to have remained holed up inside the flat until they died in early April, while their decomposing bodies went undiscovered until the following month.
One source told the publication: "There was a stream of money coming to them from their (family) that stopped in February.
"Now, we don't know why it stopped, but it seems there had been some sort of a fall out with their family overseas.
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"After that, they cut off communications with everybody."
Toxicology reports - which were ultimately inconclusive - have led police to "strongly" believe Asra and Amaal staged a suicide pact.
Unusual levels of sodium, nitrate and fluoride were discovered in the apartment, but there were no signs of anyone else entering.
Another source said the combination of chemicals found in the sisters' bodies could no longer be detected two months later.
The police's explosive new theory has been compiled in a report to the coroner, detailing their alleged bust up with their family.
The sisters were sent a payment of over $4,400 from their relatives on February 3 last year - which was the final installment they received.
Amaal - who was in charge of the money - used $960 towards their fortnightly rent and transferred another $2,000 to sister Asra.
Their rental agent Jay Hu said the women were initially "good tenants" when they first moved in during 2020, with proof of "ample" savings to support them.
But the duo began to fall behind on their rent two years later, prompting building manager Michael Baird to ask cops to make a welfare call.
It seems there had been some sort of a fall out with their family overseas. After that, they cut off communications with everybody.
The sisters refused to unlock the door but eventually opened it and fielded a series of questions from officers.
"They said they were OK," Michael told ABC. "They didn't want any police involvement. And the police left it at that."
Although the circumstances of their deaths remain unclear, sources suspect that Amaal and Asra - who drove a black BMW coupe - had a fiery spat with their "well-connected" family.
The pair stayed inside their flat from late February to early April and only spoke to their father once.
They also received a visit from an NSW Sheriff, who warned they would be "kicked out or evicted" after they ended up in $5,000 of rent arrears.
Three welfare checks were carried out by cops as the sisters' mail worryingly began to pile up outside their door.
But when the sheriff's office returned to evict them in June, they horrifically found the pair in a "somewhat decomposed" state.
Claims swirled that the sisters had raised concerns to pals that a stranger had been lurking outside their home, although police found no evidence to corroborate the reports.
Instead another chilling hypothesis has been offered up - that Asra and Amaal decided to take their own lives rather than face the danger of returning to Saudi Arabia.
'SUICIDE PACT'
"It looks like it is probably a suicide pact," a source told the Daily Telegraph.
"They have taken a pill or something and just had enough for themselves, because there were no traces of chemicals or anything found in the unit, or anyone else entering."
After entering Australia in 2017, they settled in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield, which has a large Arabic-speaking community.
The sisters then applied for subclass 866 protection visas in 2022, where applicants have legally arrived in the country and have a valid reason for seeking asylum.
According to reports from Down Under, Asra claimed to be an atheist on the applications while Amaal said she was a lesbian.
Same-sex relationships and atheism are both forbidden in their homeland, which strictly adheres to Sharia law.
Reports from the Middle East at the time of their deaths suggested both Asra and Amaal had renounced Islam.
Police were informed that the sisters had attended a girls-only queer event in January last year, just months before their deaths.
Authorities are not looking to charge anyone over the deaths.
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The bodies of Amaal and Asra were returned to their family and buried late last August.
Their official cause of death will now be investigated by a coronr.
