Saudi Religious Police to Crack Down on Women with Alluring Eyes
The below translation comes from an article published in the Gaza-based Dunya al-Watan, and this issue was also covered by other major media outlets throughout the Arab world:
The media spokesman for the Council for Commanding the Good and Forbidding the Evil, Shaykh Mutliq al-Nabit, said in Ha'il (north) that "The men of the council will intervene to compel women to cover up their eyes, especially those which provoke fitna."
Arab media outlets picked up a short video clip on YouTube, which states that, "The Council for Commanding the Good and Forbidding the Evil in Saudi Arabia pledges to take the necessary actions against any girl or woman who has eyes which provoke fitna."
Shaykh Mutliq al-Nabit said, "The Council will compel the owner of those eyes to cover them up," pointing out that the Council "has the right to do that." A Saudi citizen entered the hospital at the end of last year after suffering stab wounds in his hand and back after a fight with one of the members of the Council in the Barzan market of Ha'il, after a demand from one of the members of the Council that he cover up the eyes of his wife who was with him at the time.
The District Court in Ha'il issued a ruling which justified the member of the Council and condemned the husband and a man who was with him for assault (behaving arrogantly towards another). The first was condemned to 8 months in prison and 300 lashes dispersed over 6 sessions. The second was condemned to 18 months in prison and 700 lashes dispersed over 10 sessions.Dunya al-Watan, November 17, 2011
