The Saudi street was shaken after tweets spread the news of a heinous murder that took place on Tuesday evening in the city of Jeddah, in which the young Saudi, Bandar Al-Qarhadi, was killed.
Many social media accounts posted the news of Bandar Al-Qarhadi’s death and a video clip documenting the last moments before his death.
The tweets circulated a video clip of the young man after he was burned, in which he appears walking on his feet, screaming loudly in pain, and repeating the line, “Am I what I made?” (What did you do?), and as a result he died.
Details of the accident
In detailing the incident, Saudi security sources indicated that Bandar Al-Qarhadi was betrayed by a friend of his who stopped him on a road in Jeddah city to sort out outstanding issues between them.
However, things quickly turned sour between Bandar Al-Qarhadi and his friend, who handcuffed Bandar to his car, then doused him in petrol and set him on fire.
For its part, the Saudi General Security issued an official statement referring to the incident and confirming “the arrest of the perpetrator, who is a Saudi national, and his arrest and the taking of regular measures in the against it and reporting it to the public Prosecution.”
Al-Qarhadi’s father
Bandar Qarhadi’s father said he “will not give up his son’s legitimate right” and called for “retaliation”, stressing that he “doesn’t want a father or mother to lose their children the way they lost their son”.
In a video clip, which was circulated on social media, Bandar’s father said: “I am the father of the murdered Bandar, the martyr of the southern housing fire… Some painful clips have appeared of my son asking: ‘Am I Sweet.” Ask the killers this question, so they can answer.
And he added: “I refer my question, the question of my son and the question of my family to the crown prince, the emir of the Mecca region and the governor of Jeddah.
Bandar’s father also called on the editors of the clip to delete it out of compassion for his family, and indicated that these clips “caused Bandar’s mother to suffer severe psychological trauma” and that he “will sue anyone who posts this clip after this announcement”.
#Bandar_Al-Qarhadi
This incident sparked widespread anger among pioneers of social networking sites in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.
The hashtag #Bandar_Al-Qarhadi dominated social networking sites and search engines, with many calling for “fair retribution from the guilty”.
Nashwa Al-Ruwaini says, “God is enough for me, and he is the best disposer of affairs. The heart of his family. Oh God, grant them patience. We belong to God and to Him we will return.”
Many also demanded that the published clip, in which Bandar appears after being burned, be deleted, out of pity for his family.
Khaled Jassim said, “There must be a social campaign that everyone participates in, which is to take down the Bandar Al-Qarhadi video… This is your father’s request, and anyone who sits down and posts videos, intentionally or unintentionally, must know that anyone who has been cheated on has a family and a mother, this video breaks my heart.” And it is not suitable for the faint hearted, so how about his father and mother, help them by deleting.
Bender’s last words
Many stopped at Bandar’s last words before he died.
Al-Suwaiq said, “Bandar Al-Qarhadi’s last words are painful, (Oh, children, say I did what I did). May God have mercy on you, Bandar. We ask God to place you in the status of martyrs.”
Others talked about friendship and betrayal of friends and how to choose them.
Youssef Faisal Al-Otaibi said: “Seven years ago… I started carefully choosing who enters my life. I became convinced that companionship is not in their abundance, but it is in the least of them… and that being alone is better than accompanying an immoral and bad person, and that 98 percent of a person’s death or success is with his companions.”
On the other hand, tweeters felt that the company was a partner in this heinous crime.
Abu Walid said, “Society is complicit in this crime. The criminal is one of us and we welcome and protect him among us… It is up to all of us to be careful, vigilant and care for our children, and provide help and assistance to the security men in eliminating drugs, their promoters and abusers, and denouncing every criminal.”
While others preferred to share the text of Bandar’s old tweet, in which he invited people to remind him of their prayers.