Manama: A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced the main suspect in holding a “depraved party” to two years in jail and 500 lashes.
The suspect who had been on the run will be flogged at the girls’ college at the University of Taif attended by students who were at the party.
Each of the five young men detained at the party had been sentenced to eight months in prison and to 99 lashes.
The party at a rented recreation area in western Saudi Arabia was busted by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice with support from the police and security patrols, local news site Sabq reported on Tuesday.
In the raid, 15 girls, all university students, and five young men were arrested while others managed to escape, the report said.
The commission had raided the area following a tip about a mixed party being organised in the area.
Saudi Arabia has a very strict policy about the mixing of unrelated men and women.
Most social media users support the court verdicts, but some comments said that the punishment should not be confined to the men and that the girls should also face legal action.
