Saudi woman Rahaf Alqunun, who tried to flee family, says ‘they will kill me’

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Bangkok, Abdul-Ilah al-Shuaibi, issued a statement asserting that Alqunun had been arrested at the airport for violating Thai laws, which was not the case. He said the embassy did not have the authority to stop her at the airport.

Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, said that her family was abusive and that she hoped to seek asylum in Australia.

Written by Richard C. Paddock and Ben Hubbard

A young Saudi woman who wanted to assert her independence slipped away from her family during a holiday in Kuwait last week and boarded a plane for Thailand.

Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, said that her family was abusive and that she hoped to seek asylum in Australia.

But when she got off the plane in Bangkok, she said, a man was waiting, her name written on a placard. He said he would help her get a Thai visa, and disappeared with her passport.