Inside story of Saudi sisters’ deaths and final months alone

Two sisters from Saudi Arabia spent their final days in a Sydney unit alone and afraid in a case that has baffled investigators.

An air of tragedy and mystery surrounds the deaths of two Saudi Arabian sisters whose bodies were found in an apartment they shared in the Sydney suburb of Canterbury earlier this year.

Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, lay dead for more than a month in their beds, in separate rooms, before police found them.

New reports suggest the women may have been fleeing an oppressive regime and living in fear in their final, isolated moments.

The many questions still surrounding what happened to the women points to their isolation and unwillingness to confide their troubles in those that may have helped them

As a result, more than two months on, authorities are still struggling to make sense of what led to the young women’s demise.

The Canterbury apartment block where the girls were found. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Gaye Gerard

It is understood the girls, who arrived in Australia in 2017, had applied for protection visas with the Department of Home Affairs – one on the basis that she was a lesbian and the other that she was an atheist, The Australian reported this week.

One of the sisters also claimed to have been escaping a forced marriage.

According to the Department of Home Affairs, 86 women from Saudi Arabia applied for permanent protection in Australia from 2017-18 to 2021-22. Of those applications, 75 were granted.

A source who once met the sisters at an event for queer women in Sydney described them as “keeping to themselves” and said they had spoken about the persecution they feared in their home country.

“They mentioned that they were from Saudi Arabia, and we talked about what it is like to be queer there,” the source told The Guardian.

“They said women live in fear of their safety and that they were grateful to be living in Australia where they could more freely express themselves.

“I got the impression that they very rarely go out and hadn’t explored much of Sydney.”

Older sister Asra applied for an apprehended violence order against an unknown person in 2018.

Unfortunately, even in Australia the women did not feel safe – a belief that may or may not have been rooted in reality.

It appears they had sensed someone was following and potentially attempting to harm them, concerns they had only taken up indirectly with their building manager.

Older sister Asra had also applied for an apprehended violence order with the courts back in 2018 against an unknown person that was later withdrawn.

In January this year, younger sister Amaal reportedly sent an email requesting to check the building’s security footage. In it she said she was concerned someone had tampered with a recent food delivery they had received.

“I think the girls were very, very scared. Very afraid of something. And we’re not sure whether it was something or someone, they didn’t tell us,” apartment complex manager Michael Baird told the ABC.

They would again contact the building manager following an incident in which their car was “keyed” by an unknown person.

“We believed that it was not a personal attack to them because they’d parked their car in an unusual position. And somebody’s obviously taken offence to it,” Mr Baird said.

Younger sister Amaal emailed their building manager requesting security footage after they suspected a food delivery had been tampered with.

Police were called to the girls’ apartment in mid-March to conduct a welfare check following a call from the building manager.

After knocking on the girls’ door police say there were “no issues raised” that would prompt them to take further action.

Leaked evidence now suggests the sisters may have taken their own lives by consuming toxic chemicals – although police have only gone as far as to say the deaths were “suspicious” and “unusual”.

Tragically, it wasn’t a friend or family member who noticed their absence but falling behind on rent that led to the women’s discovery.

Their bodies were found in separate rooms, in their beds, next to which were reportedly bottles of chemicals and other substances.

“There’s no indication of anyone else being in the unit … no forced entry. It really does appear to be a tragic suicide,” a senior police source told The Daily Telegraph last week.

Interim toxicology results reportedly showed traces of those substances in the women’s bodies; however, the coroner has delayed delivering a final ruling while further testing is conducted.

Police say the period of time before the girls were discovered has been “problematic”.

The girls were largely confined to their apartment but apparently believed they were being monitored. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Gaye Gerard

The strange circumstances in which the girls were found have led Mr Baird to suggest their deaths didn’t add up.

“Two young women do not commit suicide together unless they’re doing it together. They don’t get naked, they don’t go to separate rooms, they don’t die separately,” he said.

Last week investigators released the girls’ identities and photos in an effort to encourage anyone who knew them or could help with the investigation to come forward.

Their isolated existence meant few people noticed them as they went about their lives mostly at home in the apartment.

It was only because the girls were behind on their rent to the tune of more than $5000 that a sheriff was called to the unit at the landlord’s behest, leading to the discovery of their bodies.

Their only family will remain in Saudi Arabia and have instructed the Saudi consulate to act on their behalf.

Police say the family are assisting with inquires and there is nothing to suggest they were involved in the girls’ deaths.