A woman has been sentenced to 70 lashes by a Saudi Arabian court, which found her guilty of defamation after she “insulted” a man on the social messaging service WhatsApp.
The 32-year-old will also be forced to cough up a fine of 20,000 Saudi riyals — about $5,300 — to compensate for distress caused to the man, whose “reputation had been damaged” by the offense.
The woman, who has not been named, admitted to “insulting” the man after the pair argued about the app, but disputed the guilty verdict, the Gulf News reported.
It is not clear what the offending message said or what sparked the dispute, although discussion on local social media networks indicated the woman may have sent the man a picture of herself driving in a public place. Women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia.
The case was filed at a criminal court in Al Qatif, in the country’s Eastern Province, where judges routinely make world headlines for their shocking rulings, even in the context of the world’s most barbaric judicial system.
Saudi Arabia’s anti-cyber crime law says “defamation and infliction of damage upon others” using technological devices might lead to imprisonment for up to a year and a fine not exceeding 500,000 riyals ($133,000).
The ruling came on the same day another judge granted permission to a Saudi man to divorce his wife after he didn’t like her status update — also posted on WhatsApp.
The court heard the wife wrote: “I pray to be patient enough to put up with you,” followed by his initials, Al Arabiya reports.
“I called one of my relatives to check whether she was addressing me,” the husband told the court.
“My relative confirmed this and I was so embarrassed that my friends’ wives and relatives could see that I was being portrayed in such a light. I don’t even know what she meant by it.”
According to the Saudi Gazette, the message was the last straw for the husband and the end of their marriage.
“We were already miles apart in our relationship so I decided to divorce her before she retells my entire life story on social media,” he told the court.
“It wasn’t the first time she has tarnished my reputation on social media. She had once written a poem on me and I told her it was very obvious what she was trying to say.
“Changing a poem into a prayer makes no difference.”
In recent years, women in Saudi Arabia have used social media to highlight, or even poke fun at, the restrictive lifestyle imposed on them.
Authorities tolerated these unofficial campaigns — including #Saudiwomendriving, which gained global traction — but now regularly jail and/or impose violent punishments on women for such activities.
Eastern Province Family Development Centre deputy director Khalid Al-Halibi told Al Arabiya that “social media is the number one cause of divorce” in Saudi Arabia.