“Agreed, the locals may decided to take matters into their own hands.”
Nevermind the locals, I believe it was Meriam’s own brother who turned her in.
I've heard conflicting accounts: one is that her blood relatives turned her in because they were jealous of her success and wanted to take over her businesses; and the other that the persons who turned her in misrepresented themselves as her relatives to get the businesses but weren't actually relatives.