Saudi Arabia: 'Moral police' arrest women filmed drinking, dancing with men
Jeddah: Saudi’s moral police have arrested women who were allegedly among those seen ‘drinking and dancing with men’ in a video that has upset the extremely conservative Muslim state.
The partygoers were detained over a ‘mixed party’ in Jeddah, reported Mirror, citing local media reports.
Footage from the party, where young women and men were seen to be dancing on a terrace, was posted on YouTube and went viral. The clip showed women in western clothes near tables that had bottles and drinks, allegedly alcohol.
Alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia and the Arab state also has stiff laws governing how unrelated men and women socialise.
After the video went viral, a special task force headed by Major-General Saeed Al-Qarni was constituted by the Jeddah police. The task force was supervised by Jeddah police chief Brigadier-General Abdulwahab Al-Asiri.
The location of the party was found by the team using imaging analysis, which detected the Jeddah flagpole that was visible in the background.
Since its inauguration in 2014, the Jeddah flagpole has been the tallest flagpole in the world with the height of 170 meters from the ground.
The prime suspect was arrested while he was allegedly trying to flee the country. Authorities said that the accused, a Jordanian, admitted to hosting the party during investigation.
The three female guests, a Lebanese woman and her friends, also admitted their presence at the party when they were questioned.
The case has been transferred to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution, which may move to press charges. Investigation to identify other guests at the party had also begun. There is a high probability that the accused get a harsh punishment.
The rules apply to Muslims and non-believers unlike some other Islamic countries.
In an earlier case, a 74-year-old British man was caught with a homemade brew in November 2015. He was jailed for a year and was also threatened with over 350 lashes.
