RIYADH, April 7 The third woman in cricketer Shoaib Malik's marriage knot now lives in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. This 'other woman' is the one who introduced herself to Shoaib as Ayesha Siddiqui and whose photograph was given to him, ostensibly because of her fabulous beauty.

The woman in question is married to an Indian national who works as an engineer in Sabic, a Saudi industrial conglomerate.

All attempts by the press over the last few days to talk to the mystery woman have been in vain as she and her family want to conceal their identity at all costs. Her husband, too, has made it clear that they don't want to go public on the issue.

The Dammam-based girl, now a mother of two, has been an intimate friend of Ayesha Siddiqui since her Jeddah days and it is believed that she agreed to pose as Ayesha to ensure that her relationship with Shoaib continues.

The family of this woman, too, hails from Hyderabad, India. According to insiders, the Dammam-based woman went to Dubai where she was introduced 'as Ayesha' to Shoaib.

It is mystifying why Shoaib has not yet shown the photograph of the 'other woman' who met her. However, in view of the family's determination to stay away from an invasive media, there are speculations that Shoaib has been requested by them not to reveal their identity.

Another enigmatic character in the episode is Mohammad Siddiqui, Ayesha's pugnacious father. His eagerness to badmouth Shoaib Malik is shocking for people from the Sub-continent given his conservative background.

Indeed, people who know him do recall his eccentricities. He is reputed to have made heaps of money when he worked in Saudi Arabia.

He was once the chief of the royal hangar of the late Prince Abdul Majeed, who had been governor of Makkah for over two decades.

Ayesha studied at the elite British Continental School in Jeddah. She also taught at the school for a while, according to acquaintances of the family.

ANOTHER TWIST Urdu News, a Saudi newspaper, has carried an interview of Dr Haseeb, the putative brother-in-law of Ayesha, and not a minor player in the gripping tale to boot.

According to the daily, Haseeb's friends doubt his credentials and wonder whether he is what he says he is _ Ayesha's brother-in-law.

They even surmise that he was once among the third woman's suitors. There have been many twists and turns in this enchanting story. And who knows the best is yet to come.