Manama: Mystery is shrouding the case of two Saudi university students who went missing before reportedly flying to South Korea.

The father of one of the young women said that his daughter, 20, last week left home in the morning as usual and headed to the university.

When she was late in returning home, the family was not worried because she worked part-time in a shop, the father told Saudi daily Okaz.

At 11 pm, the family contacted the place where she worked. They were told that she did not show up on that day.

The family contacted the police and, following an intensive investigation, they discovered that she had left Saudi Arabia for South Korea in the company of her friend.

Under Saudi laws, a young woman cannot leave the country unless the father or custodian formally authorises her travel abroad.

However, the man said he believed his daughter used his mobile phone to obtain the authorisation since the permission is available online through Absher, the official eServices mobile application for the Ministry of Interior.

The father said that he did not notice any changes in the attitudes or patterns of his daughter in the days preceding her disappearance.

However, he said that she was keen on traveling and was greatly interested in anything related to South Korea, especially the Korean TV drama series that she was watching with great passion.

“I was not shocked by her interest in travel and in Korea because I am aware that many young women today are fascinated by both,” he said.

But he added that he was shocked by the dramatic developments in the family.

“Her mother is devastated and I still cannot believe she fled the country. We do not know how it happened and we have not received any information explaining why she left home,” he said.

The brother of the second young woman said that the case remained shrouded in mystery.

“We are aware that she travelled to Korea, but we do not know the reasons. We do not know how she left the university and the country. The investigations are still going on to find out what happened and how it happened,” he said.

A bus driver who gave testimony said that he had driven the young woman back to her home; however, the time he gave was, according to the investigations, the same as the departure time of the plane.

Sources told the daily that the two young women could not have left for South Korea without the existence of someone or a travel agent who arranged their trip.