After 12 years, Rania Alayed’s loved ones can finally lay her to rest
After 12 long years, Rania Alayed’s family finally has some closure. As the weekend begins, her loved ones will reflect on an emotional few days as the news they’d been longing to hear sinks in.
On Wednesday (February 26), police revealed body parts had been found in the long-running search for the remains of the murdered mother-of-three.
Rania’s life was taken in an honour killing at the hands of her husband Ahmed Al-Khatib in Salford in 2013. He didn’t initially reveal where she was buried as he began a life sentence with a minimum 20-year term.
EXCLUSIVE: ‘My dad murdered my mum, this is my story’
But when their eldest son Yazan Khatib turned 18, Al-Khatib helped narrow the search, pinpointing the location on a map and circling an area beside the A19 in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. That prompted a major search, but no remains were found.
Watch Yazan’s full interview with Manchester Evening News reporter James Holt below…
Full Manchester Evening News interview with Rania Alayed’s son Yazan Khatib
During that conversation behind bars, the killer also told his son exactly how he had taken Rania’s life. It is a secret Yazan vowed never to share, to ‘protect who [his] mother was’.
Over the years, police and forensics experts carried out multiple searches in the area off the A-road. But the agony continued. Until this week.
After police announced the news, Yazan sat down with the Manchester Evening News. He was just nine-years-old when his mother’s life was taken.
In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, Yazan said he recently spoke to police, having gleaned new information, before a fresh search began.
“We never thought we’d be given this kind of closure,” he said. “It’s something that we weren’t expecting given that the previous searches have failed.
“My family are very happy with the discovery. They’re a bit upset that it took so long, but it’s better than nothing happening.”
Speaking of the moment police told him the news, Yazan, 21, added: “I got a call saying that they’ve found the remains and they’re just waiting to do the DNA test now. It’s something I couldn’t really imagine – 12 years… you don’t really expect something to be found.”
The Manchester Evening News’ interview with Yazan can be watched – in full – above.
