Dubai: A young Saudi man was asked to cover his long hair or leave the market in Sajer, a small town in the suburbs of the capital Riyadh, it was reported on Wednesday.
The man was shopping alongside his mother and sisters at the crowded market when he was approached by members of the powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the religious police, asking him to cover his shoulder-length hair.
He was told that he would have to leave the market where several women were shopping if he refused to do so, Saudi news site Sabq reported.
However, the young man turned down the two options presented by the Commission members and refused to comply.
Witnesses said that he raised his voice against the members who started pulling him towards their office in the market.
“Several women clustered around the office and started shouting at the Commission members asking them to release the young man,” witnesses said. “The Commission members decided to take the young man out of the market to another station, and some of the women took out their mobile phones and started taking pictures, breaking the rules that banned photography in the area,” they said.
Social media users were split over the incident, with many supporting the Commission members for doing their task of imposing discipline in the market and criticising the young man and his family for their unruly behaviour.
However, other users sided with the young man, saying he was free to grow his hair long and there was no need for him to cover it. They said the Commission members were abusing their authority.
