Two women in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to 20 lashes after they were found to have used bad language while arguing with each other on WhatsApp.
The pair were also jailed for 10 days after the criminal court in Jeddah said they had used ‘impermissible expressions’ in their text messages.
And they have been warned if they use bad language again their punishment would be much more severe.
The case came to court after one of the young women was accused of using ‘abusive expressions’ during her WhatsApp conversation with her friend.
Arabic newspaper Al Watan, reports that the court then asked the woman produce her phone so that they could examine the alleged offensive messages.
However, the defendant claimed that she was not the first one to start the argument and showed a message using bad language from her counterpart two months beforehand.
The court then decided that both women were equally as guilty and handed down the sentences.
The sentence comes as Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly condemned for violating human rights, discriminating against woman and restricting freedom of expression.
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