Two crucifixes were discovered in the southwest Sydney apartment where two Saudi Arabian sisters’ bodies were discovered in their bedrooms, dead and decomposing.
Five years after leaving their country, Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were discovered dead inside their Canterbury apartment on June 7.
The women’s bodies, which were found in separate bedrooms, were thought to have been dead for a month before being discovered by officers doing a welfare check.
There were no obvious signs of injury, no indications of forced entry, and the cause of death is still unknown, though it is being investigated.
Two crucifixes were discovered on the floor of one of the bedrooms, one of their building management company’s employees told Daily Mail Australia.
It’s not clear if the crosses belonged to the women or if they were a sign that they had turned away from Islam.
The most recent development in the mysterious case has not been publicly disclosed by the investigators.
According to a brief statement from NSW Police, “the deaths are still under investigation, and police are continuing to appeal for information that will form part of our brief for the Coroner.”
The employee claimed that earlier this year, the women came to them with concerns about their safety.
The employee said, “They made a report that they saw a man ‘acting weird’ outside the building — standing between two cars and acting weird.”
The employee claimed that although the women investigated the complaint and looked over their security tapes, it was challenging to determine whether the man was acting maliciously.
The employee reported, “We looked at the CCTV and realised there was a man there.”
But there’s a line there. There is a burger restaurant there, and Uber Eats drivers are constantly coming and going. Anyone could have been him.
We were unable to ascertain his purpose, but because he didn’t appear to be up to any mischief, we decided not to pursue the matter further.
The employee claimed that none of the women mentioned whether they recognised the man.
The women also informed the building management in late 2021 that they believed their food deliveries were being tampered with.
Surveillance cameras, however, once more found no proof to support their concerns.
Police removed the building’s surveillance shortly after the women were found, and it has not been recovered.
Detectives checked on two people’s welfare after receiving information from the building management company.
One occurred in March after the women left food in the communal areas of the building.
After they had been late on their rent for a number of weeks and the sheriff had arrived to serve the duo with an eviction notice, the sisters’ bodies were discovered by police in June.
Unsolved case changes course
Police have changed their earlier statements regarding the sisters’ family’s cooperation with detectives, which is the most recent development in the intriguing case.
For weeks, the NSW Police gave media assurances that the sister’s “well-connected” Saudi family was “cooperating” and “helping” with the inquiry.
However, according to police sources, the family allegedly prevented investigators from releasing images of the women as part of a public plea to provide light on the puzzling case on Sunday.
Nearly two months after their bodies were discovered, police revealed to Daily Mail Australia that the coroner and not the sisters’ family were consulted before releasing their photographs and identities.
Throughout the research, other strange contradictions have also surfaced.
In spite of earlier claims that the toxicology reports were being ‘fast-tracked,’ police were unable to explain why it was taking longer than the typical four to six weeks for them to be released.
In answer to questions, police responded, “That is a subject for the coroner.”
Investigators have previously maintained that the family is cooperating with them and that there is “no reason” to think the Alsehli girls abandoned their country.
At a press conference on July 27, police declined to provide information regarding the women’s visa status but did say they were in contact with the family, who had asked the embassy to intervene on their behalf.
Investigators think the women passed away in May, just after they ceased making their rent payments.
Although it is believed they might be buried in Sydney, the coroner has not given the sisters’ corpses to their family.
Police are still investigating, so they have not ruled out homicide or suicide.
As further information about the sisters’ attempts to lead normal lives in this country came to light, it was also revealed that they were both looking for protection from the Australian government.
It has been verified that they had an open asylum case with the Department of Home Affairs.
It is unknown why they requested protection from the Australian government, as stated in their claim.
However, according to Amnesty International, requests for asylum frequently involve persecution or abuses of human rights based on political beliefs, violence, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion.
Both were on bridging visas and in contact with settlement providers.
The sisters renounced Islam, according to reports that appeared in Middle Eastern newspapers on Friday.
Their former landlord from a home they rented at Fairfield told The Guardian that the sisters only left the Canterbury flat to study at TAFE, go shopping, or go to work.
The’shocked’ landlord claimed that although the sisters’ mother visited them in Sydney, she didn’t enjoy Australia and left after just a short stay.
There was “nothing to imply,” according to detective inspector Claudia Allcroft, that their family was responsible for their killings.
The existence of any dissident Saudi networks involving the women was unknown.
The sisters, who left Saudi Arabia in 2017, reportedly attended TAFE in Wetherill Park, according to the landlord.
Additionally, they both performed traffic control duties for a Sydney construction firm.
When I first viewed their images, I was astounded and couldn’t imagine how this could have happened.
We never had any issues with them; they were extremely sweet and polite girls,’ their landlord told The Guardian.
In 2019, Asra requested an apprehended violence order against a 28-year-old male, but she later dropped her request.
Social media users in the Middle East are speculating about the sisters’ unexplained deaths and wondering why they felt the need to flee the Saudi Kingdom.
One individual advised the women not to leave Saudi Arabia in search of freedom since they put themselves in peril by doing so. You won’t discover it.
The family, who are thought to be “highly connected,” had received condolences from the Saudi Consulate in Sydney.
What is known about the Alsehli sisters’ time in Australia raises more questions than it does answers, despite the fact that the specifics of their existence in Saudi Arabia have not yet been pieced together.
Eight weeks after the gruesome discovery, there are still many unanswered questions and discrepancies in the case.
However, detectives are still unable to determine what the two ladies were doing for a living.
Both women obtained ABNs in 2018 for single traders to a Wetherill Park home in Sydney’s west.
They also resided in a contemporary, two-bedroom apartment for $490 a week and drove a black BMW coupe with a sticker price of more than $38,000.
It’s unclear whether the sisters’ car’s keying in late 2021 was a coincidence or whether whoever caused the harm to their property did it with malice in mind.
Workers at the nearby service station described the women as “cheerful,” but they also noticed that the pair would only react to questions and never strike up a discussion on their own.
In the months prior to the girls being finally found in separate beds of their first-floor apartment as mail piled up outside their door, the police also conducted three welfare checks.
Detective Allcroft reaffirmed a call for public information during the news conference held last week, admitting that police knew very little about the women.
Anyone who saw the sisters in their final days has been invited to come forward.
Detective Allcroft added, “We hope that someone may be able to help our investigations.”
The sisters’ movements before their deaths may have been known to people who knew them or through sightings.