Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, and 24-year-old Asra Abdullah Alsehli. Photo / NSW Police
Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, and 24-year-old Asra Abdullah Alsehli. Photo / NSW Police
A worker who had access to the Sydney unit where the bodies of two Saudi Arabian sisters were mysteriously found dead and decomposing reportedly discovered two crucifixes in the home.
The ABC reports the religious symbols were found on the floor of one of the bedrooms and that the objects were discovered after the remains of Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23 had been removed.
NSW Police could not confirm the detail or whether inquiries have been made into the sisters' religion.
It's believed Asra and Amaal fled Saudi Arabia and landed in Australia in 2017. The sisters were reportedly actively seeking asylum, and had renounced Islam and changed their names after arriving.
Due to the state of decay their bodies were found in, police have yet to establish how Asra and Amaal died.
While authorities discovered the bodies on June 7, they believe they had been dead for more than a month. Police were called to the home after their landlord had filed an eviction notice due to multiple missed rent payments.
The sisters were found deceased in their bedrooms with no signs of injury or forced entry. Their deaths are considered suspicious, and police are still awaiting the results of post-mortem examinations and toxicology tests.
A man who claimed to be friends with Asra, the older sister, said they led very private lives and did now know where she worked.
Detectives have yet to disclose their occupations, however, both women have registered ABNs from 2018 to an address in Wetherill Park.
"She told me nothing about her life like that … I did not go to her home, I meet her out, you know, not in the house," he told the Daily Telegraph.
An employee from the building management company which serviced the Canterbury apartment said the women had approached them with safety concerns in the months before their deaths.
"They made a report that they saw a man 'acting weird' outside the building – standing between two cars and acting strange," the employee said via the Daily Mail, noting they could see no malicious intentions.
"We checked the CCTV and saw there was a man there. But that spot is busy. There is a burger shop there and Uber Eats drivers coming and going all the time. He could have been anyone.
"We couldn't determine why he was there, but he didn't look like he was doing anything untoward, so there was no need to chase it up further."
Prior welfare check
Police had also been called to the home to conduct welfare checks on two separate occasions.
In mid-March, officers attended the unit after the building manager found food that had been left out in the common areas.
Speaking to the media, Det Insp Claudia Allcroft said the women "appeared to be fine" and "no issues" were raised during that visit, with no further action taken by police.
The Daily Mail reported a source claimed the women were "timid" during the welfare check and at first refused to let police enter the apartment. They claimed that while they let the officers inside, the women huddled together in a far corner of the unit while police asked them questions about their wellbeing.
Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, and 24-year-old Asra Abdullah Alsehli. Photo / NSW Police
"They were stand-offish and didn't really want to talk," the source said.
"Something felt off, but they said they were okay. What more could anyone do?"
Although their family have been assisting police with investigations, the Daily Telegraph reports the sisters' family did not want police to release images of them as part of their appeal to the public for help.
A coroner investigating their deaths reportedly overruled the family's wishes in order for as much information to be gained about the pair as possible.
In order to assist police with their investigation, officers have appealed to the "small and close" Burwood community for information.
"Detectives are interested in speaking with anyone who may have seen or who may have information about the women's movements in the days and weeks prior to their deaths – which we believe occurred in early May," Allcroft said.
"Extensive inquiries have been made by Strike Force Woolbird detectives; however, we have been unable to determine the exact circumstances surrounding Asra and Amaal's death."
