by Chinwe Okafor

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a woman to 70 lashes and a fine of 20,000 Saudi Riyals (SR) for insulting a man on instant-messaging application WhatsApp.

According to reports, the 32-year-old woman was guilty of tarnishing the reputation of the plaintiff on WhatsApp pushing the court to announce the verdict.

Let us make comprehending this much more easier.

Apparently, the complainant had an argument with the woman. Though the nature of the disagreement between the two wasn’t obtained, however, she admitted that she may have indeed insulted the man but reportedly rejected the court ruling.

Sadly for her, Article Three of the Saudi Anti-Cyber Crime Law states that whoever defames or inflicts damage upon others through various information technology devices “shall be subject to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding SR500,000 or to either punishment.”

So there isn’t a way out for her!

But she isn’t alone in the brouhaha, her predecessors had gone through the same. In July 2014, two women in Jeddah were sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 days in jail for insulting each other on WhatsApp.

The case reached court after one of the women sued the other for allegedly slandering her reputation and insulting her. The judge had issued the verdict after viewing the exchange of messages between the two women who are reportedly cousins.

The judge had sought to end the strife between the two cousins, however neither wanted to apologise.

Ada Igboanugo