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Woman Arrested In Saudi For Posting Photo Without Hijab

A woman in Saudi committed the 'sin' of moving out of her house wearing a multi-coloured dress, a black jacket and ankle boots minus the Hijab or Abaya and was arrested subsequently.

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Poorvi Gupta
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It is Saudi Arabia’s moral code for women to always wear the Hijab or Abaya in public. Violating this code, a woman committed the 'sin' of moving out of her house wearing a multi-coloured dress, a black jacket and ankle boots minus the Hijab or Abaya. She posted a picture of herself without wearing the Hijab in public, posted it on Twitter and was arrested by the police on Monday.

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The picture went viral in Saudi Arabia and drew backlash from the public there. It was widely spread across the capital city of Riyadh, where the woman -- identified as Malak al-Shehri -- lives. Shehri had taken the picture on the streets of the city and posted it last month.

The police who arrested the woman said they did it in accordance with their moral code. A spokesperson of the Riyadh Police, Fawaz al-Maiman, told AFP, “The woman posted a tweet of herself standing next to a popular Riyadh cafe but without wearing the Islamic headscarf that is required in Saudi society.”

He added, “Riyadh police stress that the action of this woman violates the laws applied in this country.”

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The man also accused the woman, who is speculated to be in her 20s, of talking of having “prohibited relations” with unrelated men.

The rules are very strict for women living in the Middle-Eastern country as they are not allowed to be seen in public without headscarves and loose fitting garments such as an abaya.

Picture credit- Rediff

rules for women in Saudi Arabia Abaya mysogyny Restrictions for women
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