A Saudi Arabian
court has sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40
lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from
the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house,
according to local media reports.
According to the
Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan, troubles for the
woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, began last year when a
member of the religious police entered her house in
the city of Al-Chamli and found her with two unrelated
men, “Fahd” and “Hadian.”
Fahd told the
policeman he had the right to be there, because Sawadi
had breast-fed him as a baby and was therefore
considered to be a son to her in Islam, according to
Al-Watan. Fahd, 24, added that his friend Hadian was
escorting him as he delivered bread for the elderly
woman. The policeman then arrested both
men.
Saudi Arabia follows
a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism and
punishes unrelated men and women who are caught
mingling.
