Esther Wanja Muthoni, a Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage, according to reports. It is unclear when the punishment will be carried out. (Foto: Instagram)
Esther Wanja Muthoni, a Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage. The ruling was issued last month. Saudi Arabia treats sexual relations outside marriage as a crime.
Human rights groups say the threat of punishment leads many unmarried women to give birth at home. Muthoni went to a hospital, which reported her to the government. Children born to unmarried women in Saudi Arabia generally are not entitled to birth certificates, according to the report.
Muthoni reportedly became pregnant during a relationship with an Egyptian man who has since left the country. Her baby was born about a year ago, and she has been trying to leave Saudi Arabia since then but has encountered bureaucratic obstacles.
“I’m very afraid,” Muthoni, 40, said in a phone interview last month, according to The New York Times. “I don’t think I can endure those lashes.” It is not clear when the punishment will be carried out. Saudi Arabia announced in 2020 that it was abolishing flogging, following significant international pressure, but the punishment may still be imposed in cases covered by Islamic law, including sex outside marriage.
