THE GUARDIAN: Six girls aged between 12 and 18 receive 10 lashes each for attacking head of orphanage
Six orphan girls aged between 12 and 18 have been flogged in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of attacking the head of their orphanage, an official said.
The girls received 10 lashes each at a women's prison in Medina, Islam's second holiest city.
"The order against the six orphans is a legitimate court order," Mohammed al-Awadh, the public relations manager at the ministry of social affairs, told Reuters. "The ministry does not have the right to interfere in a court order."
He gave no details of the ruling but the Arabic-language newspaper Okaz said the girls had been convicted of "acts of mischief" and attacking the director of the orphanage.
The girls defended their actions, saying they were harassed by the director, Okaz reported. » | Reuters in Riyadh | Tuesday, May 10, 2011
