Saudi police have arrested a young woman who tweeted a picture of herself outdoors without the body-length robes and head scarf that women in the kingdom are required to wear.
A woman identified as Malak al-Shehri posted a picture of herself on Twitter in a jacket and multi-colored dress last month after announcing that she would leave her house without her abaya, a long loose-fitting robe, and headscarf.
The tweet caused a backlash with many calling for Shehri to be executed with the hashtag “We demand the arrest of the rebel Angel Shehri.”
The picture posted on the downtown Riyadh street of al-Tahliya, led to someone filing a complaint with the religious police, and eventually to the woman’s arrest, according to the local Arabic-language Al-Sharq newspaper.
A police spokesman told the newspaper that Shehri was taken to prison and he also accused her of “speaking openly about prohibited relations with (non-related) men”, the Guardian reports.
