Riyadh: The Saudi Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (known as the religious police outside the kingdom) is again mired in controversy.
"Members of the commission raided a women's public toilet and whisked away with a young woman. When she tried to run away, they chased her. She ran and fell unconscious. The religious police caught her and pushed her into their vehicle," according to a report carried by the Arabic daily Al Hayat.
Al Hayat correspondent Badr Al Shahri was an eyewitness to the incident which occurred on the Dammam corniche on Monday evening.
New strategy
"We were shocked to see the woman was being dragged away by the religious police in broad daylight. Then, she escapes, runs away and falls fainted, metres away from the main street," he said.
Al Shahri added that the members of the commission seized her and dumped her into the rear of their Jeep.
The incident coincided with a statement of the Chief of the Commission Abdul Aziz Bin Humain who was appointed a few months ago after a complete overhaul of the controversial body about giving prominence to women in the commission's activities.
"The new strategy of the commission gives a thrust to listening to the viewpoints of Saudi women. The administrative restructuring of the body will be made with giving representation to women academics and university professors," he said at an open forum held at Hail University on Tuesday.