Manama: Municipality officials in the southern Saudi city of Jazan have sealed a barber’s shop after it refused to serve a young man on a wheel chair.
The employee reportedly said that the customer needed to sit in the barber’s chair in order to give him the haircut.
However, the customer said that he was not able to move to the chair and wanted the employee to cut his hair while he was sitting in his wheel chair, Saudi news site Sabq reported on Wednesday.
As the employee refused, the young man reported the case to the municipality and following an investigation into the issue, the officials decided to shut down the shop in application of the rules that ban any form of discrimination.
The decision was welcomed by social media users as “absolutely right and highly necessary.”
“I salute the courage of this young man who stood for his right and took the case to the authorities,” Mohammad Al Sofiyani posted. “Some employees are incredibly arrogant and cannot appreciate the pains that some people, especially those with special needs, suffer.”
Social media user Ambassador said that he was looking for the shop to remain closed for two years.
“We need stringent action to make sure everybody complies with the laws and shows compassion towards those in need,” he said.
Another social media user Fahad said that the employee should be given lashes in front of the shop.
“He deserves to be punished publicly because he was arrogant. His negative attitude may be attributed to carelessness about making extra money, but he must know how to behave with people. I wish they would give him 100 lashes in front of the shop in order to serve as a deterrent for others who may be tempted to abuse people with special needs,” he said.
