The Hail court sentenced a man in his 20s to five months in prison and 90 lashes after he threatened to publish photos of a young woman on the internet because she did not respond to his wishes.

A source from the Hail court cautioned that when young women recklessly engage in secret, forbidden relationships it ultimately leads to vice because they give in to transient desires without weighing the consequences, according to the Saudi Watan.

The girl of Hail case began when the girl informed the Morality Police that a young man was threatening to publish photos of her on the internet if she did not accede to his demands. The police successfully trapped the young man, arrested him, and transferred him to the court, where he was convicted.

The head of the Morality Police in Hail, Sheikh Suleiman al-Radiman, said that the young man was arrested by members of the Morality Police.

In related news, the Morality Police in Tabouk arrested another young man who threatened to publish photos of another girl. The man, one of the girl’s relatives, led her to believe that he wanted to marry her and asked her to send him photos of her. She did so hoping that he would marry her, but he then began threatening to publish her photos if she did not make herself available to him.

When the girl refused, the young man pressured her by going to her place of work and again threatening her with scandal, after which she turned to the Morality Police and filed a complaint. The police arrested the young man in possession of photos of the girl and threatening messages directed to her on his cell phone.

The director of the Morality Police in Tabouk, Sheikh Fallah al-Shamri, confirmed the case of extortion, asking parents of young women to be on the look out for this phenomenon, which he said was spreading to all segments of society for several reasons, primarily a misuse of technology, delayed marriage, social problems, and an emotional vacuum, particularly in the families of young women. He urged all young women who fall prey to extortion to inform the security authorities.

Source: www.alarabiya.net

August 25, 2008