The New York Times reported, citing court documents, that a Saudi court sentenced Kenyan worker Esther Wanja Muthoni to 100 lashes for sex outside marriage, an offense covered by a flogging exception.
The Times said the October 2026 ruling also ordered a year of banishment but did not name where Muthoni would be sent. She gave birth to a son in Saudi Arabia in August 2025. The newspaper reported that she had no lawyer during the proceedings and did not appeal.
Saudi Arabia told the United Nations that its Supreme Court removed discretionary flogging as a penalty in 2020. A U.S. State Department report said flogging remained possible for some offenses with fixed penalties, including sexual conduct between unmarried people.
The Guardian quoted Maryam Aldossari, acting director of ALQST, as calling the sentence “an act of violence” and saying Muthoni should have been sent to Kenya instead of being punished. The Times reported that a pending case kept Muthoni and her son from leaving before her Kenyan exit documents expired. It said neither the Saudi nor Kenyan government answered its request for comment.
