Manama: A Saudi court of appeals has upheld a record six-year jail sentence for a man who blackmailed a woman.
The court in the western city of Makkah also endorsed the 150 lashes decided by a lower court against the blackmailer who had taken the woman to a flat where he beat and raped her before taking pictures and stealing her mobile.
“The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice received a call from a woman who asked for assistance to get rid of a man who blackmailed her,” a source told Saudi daily Al Watan. “The man who took her to a flat beat her with a stick, causing deep wounds to her head. He also used her mobile to take pictures and kept it with him. One year later, he started to blackmail her, threatening to send her pictures to his friends. When she refused to comply with his demands, he sent the pictures to her fiance, causing a rift between them,” the source said.
Members of the powerful commission arranged an ambush to arrest the blackmailer, but he managed to avoid them.
“They called the father and informed him about the case against his son, asking him to take them to their office and to bring the woman’s mobile. The son eventually showed up, but the Commission found that he had deleted all the data on the mobile and had removed the chip,” the source added.
“He told the Commission that the woman had exploited him, pushing him to take her mobile. He denied he beat her or cut off her hair as she claimed.”
The defendant was charged during the second session of the trial in the western city of Taef. Charges included assaulting the complainant, beating her and causing wounds, and cutting off her hair.
“The six-year sentence is the longest decided by a court in Saudi Arabia against any man who blackmailed a woman,” the source said.
