Saudi Arabia: Gang Raped Woman Sentenced to 100 Lashes

The Saudi Gazette reports that a woman has been sentenced to one year in prison and 100 lashes for being the victim of a gang rape. The 23 year old unmarried woman said she was pregnant because she had accepted a ride from a strange man, who took her to a rest house and raped her along with four of his friends.

The man, the girl confessed, took her to a rest house, east of Jeddah, where he and four of friends assaulted her all night long.

Of course, where I live this would be a complaint, not a confession. It is a confession in Saudi Arabia, because it is her fault that she was gang raped. But in Saudi Arabia, a woman needs four witnesses to have seen the rape to call it a rape. Without the witnesses, she is assumed to have consented. Her only four witnesses participated in the rape. Guess they are not going to testify in her defense.

So without the witnesses, the court has only the pregnant woman. Her pregnancy is proof of her crime as she is unmarried. Thus, it is clear she has had illegal sexual relations as the only legal sexual relations are within marriage.

While the Saudi Gazette is saying her crime was "adultery", I think this is what we call "fornication". The woman is unmarried and her sentence is consistent with the punishment for fornication in strict applications of Sharia Law. The punishment for adultery in strict applications of Sharia Law is death by stoning.

Hat Tip The Sound of Truth