When a Twitter user, @doglab posted this picture on his timeline with the caption: “Saudi women receive 90 lashes for being raped. Australian flags are at half mast for King Abdullah. Disgraceful,” it brought back the memories of the girl from Qatif”
This particular incident captions well the saying: “different strokes for different folks.” While in most part of the world, the rapist is the one who is punished for committing the crime, in Saudi Arabia, the reverse is the case as a woman is flogged for getting raped. There, the woman is the offender and not the victim. As a result, she is blamed for making the rape take place.
In 2006, a gang rape victim (the girl from Qatif) was sentenced to 90 lashes by a Saudi court because she was in a car with a man that was not a relative. When she spoke to the press about her ordeal, her sentence was increased to 200 lashes and six months in jail.
At the time the rape incident took place, the girl was 19 and was known by the Saudi media as “the girl from Qatif”.
ALSO SEE: Nigerian Army Parades Duo Who Kidnapped, Raped And Demanded N10m From Victim.