Deaths of Saudi sisters found bound together ruled suicide
Brad Hunter
More from Brad Hunter
Published:
January 23, 2019
Updated:
January 23, 2019 12:07 PM EST
Rotana Farea, 22, and her sister Tala Farea, 16, preferred death in the chilly Hudson River to returning to Saudi Arabia.
Two troubled Saudi sisters who died when they plunged taped together into the Hudson River committed suicide, New York officials say.
The harrowing deaths of the Saudi-born women — Rotana Farea, 22, and Tala Farea, 16 — stunned the world and drew attention to their home nation’s misogynistic culture.
An autopsy revealed that the sisters drowned after jumping off New York City’s George Washington Bridge on Oct. 24.
“Today, my office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which the young women bound themselves together before descending into the Hudson River,” chief medical examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson said in a statement.
The two women disappeared from their home in Fairfax, Va. sometime in 2017.
Their bodies were found beached on the shore of Riverside Park in New York City’s Upper West Side.
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post the woman would have rather taken their own lives than return to oppressive Saudi Arabia.
Their mother’s immigration status had expired in the U.S. and officials had asked her to leave the country. Saudi officials asked for an extension.
Their mother told The Post her daughters had applied for asylum, putting the family’s status in jeopardy.
During their last days, the two women lived it up at New York City hotels.
And as they ran out of money, they decided to take their lives together.
Brad Hunter
More from Brad Hunter
Published:
January 23, 2019
Updated:
January 23, 2019 12:07 PM EST
Rotana Farea, 22, and her sister Tala Farea, 16, preferred death in the chilly Hudson River to returning to Saudi Arabia.
Two troubled Saudi sisters who died when they plunged taped together into the Hudson River committed suicide, New York officials say.
The harrowing deaths of the Saudi-born women — Rotana Farea, 22, and Tala Farea, 16 — stunned the world and drew attention to their home nation’s misogynistic culture.
An autopsy revealed that the sisters drowned after jumping off New York City’s George Washington Bridge on Oct. 24.
“Today, my office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which the young women bound themselves together before descending into the Hudson River,” chief medical examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson said in a statement.
The two women disappeared from their home in Fairfax, Va. sometime in 2017.
Their bodies were found beached on the shore of Riverside Park in New York City’s Upper West Side.
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post the woman would have rather taken their own lives than return to oppressive Saudi Arabia.
Their mother’s immigration status had expired in the U.S. and officials had asked her to leave the country. Saudi officials asked for an extension.
Their mother told The Post her daughters had applied for asylum, putting the family’s status in jeopardy.
During their last days, the two women lived it up at New York City hotels.
And as they ran out of money, they decided to take their lives together.
