Manama: The Investigation and Prosecution Commission in Saudi Arabia has refused to release a group of teenagers accused of harassing two young girls, and instead extended their stay in custody by 15 days.
The youths were seen harassing the two victims on the Corniche of the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Friday, the first day of Eid Al Fitr which marked the end of Ramadan.
Sources said investigators intended to summon more people implicated in the incident once they were able to identify them.
People in charge of renting out buggies would also be summoned, the sources told Saudi daily Okaz.
A video clip posted on the internet showed the victims, one fully veiled and the other with half her face visible, pleading with the jeering youths to leave them alone.
The clip triggered widespread condemnation on social media, prompting calls for stringent action against the harassers.
Many who responded online claimed that such incidents were alien to local culture and that some of the harassers were imitating young people in other countries.
Makkah Province Governor Prince Khalid Al Faisal ordered an investigation into the matter and a better deployment of security forces to ensure the incident is not repeated.
However, the intensity of online reactions against the harassers dwindled after a second clip filmed before the incident emerged.
The clip shows the two girls in a buggy, with one of them appearing to making a gesture that could have been interpreted by the teenagers as an invitation to interact with them.
Some social media users started calling for the release of the teenagers, arguing they had been provoked by the girls.
Others called for action against the girls for breaking social norms and failing to behave in a manner consistent with local traditions.
The sources said the two girls could be summoned as well if the investigations revealed they were partly to blame for the incident.
Under a long-standing tradition, Saudi men are brought to justice in cases of “immoral acts”, but the women are spared the measures. Authorities are content with informing their families and advising them to stay out of trouble.
A court in Jeddah has, however, decided to change the tradition, insisting that it would accept cases only if both the men and women involved are brought to justice. The judges in the Jeddah court insist that the public prosecution office should either file cases against all parties or forgive them all.
The 30km corniche features a coastal road, recreation areas, pavilions, large-scale sculptures and King Fahad’s Fountain, the tallest of its type in the world, which jets water 312 metres high.
