Madina, January 05: Several members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a), who assaulted a Saudi woman were convicted for abusing their power.
The conviction comes after a two-month investigation into the case by the Control and Investigation Board (CIB) in Madina.
The Hai’a members have now been referred to the Administrative Court. The CIB has also given the go-ahead for the woman to bring a civil rights case before the relevant authorities.
The dramatic story was published by Okaz/Saudi Gazette last October and has dominated public attention ever since. The Saudi woman and her uncle had just arrived in Madina from Yanbu to apply for a license at the Medical Board. They were taking a taxi through the city when two vehicles suddenly boxed the driver in. Five men got out and went straight to the cab.
The woman said: “I screamed thinking they were thieves. One of them attacked and beat me. He took off my hijab and put his hands over my mouth and pulled me outside the car at which point another Hai’a member came and asked me to show him my ID. After ascertaining that the person with me was my uncle, they apologized to us.”
The Hai’a members then offered the woman and her uncle bribes in exchange for their silence. “They gave us some mint, basil and SR500 and put us in a hotel at their expense to persuade us not to complain against them,” the woman said.
However, the defiant young lady filed a complaint with the Emir of Madina, who gave her an audience. The Emir gave the go-ahead for an investigation after telling the woman “Your dignity is our dignity and we do not accept what you have gone through.”
Courtesy: Saudi Gazette