Kenyan domestic worker Esther Wanja Muthoni has been sentenced to 100 lashes and one year of banishment in Saudi Arabia, but her punishment is only part of the ordeal facing the 40-year-old mother, who has been unable to return home with her child for more than a year.
Muthoni was convicted of having sex outside marriage after giving birth to her son, Abudy, in August 2025.
She had become pregnant during a relationship with an Egyptian man while working legally as a domestic worker in the kingdom.
A Saudi court in Riyadh delivered the sentence in October 2026 after several hearings conducted during the summer.
According to an investigation published by the New York Times on November 10, Muthoni attended the proceedings without a lawyer, although she had access to a court translator.
She did not appeal the conviction, saying she wanted to return to Kenya and reunite with her other children.
The mother of five told the publication that she feared the punishment and was uncertain about what would happen next.
The court also sentenced her to one year of banishment. However, the judgment did not specify where she would be sent.
Under Saudi rules, a person sentenced to banishment without a specified destination is generally sent to another city within the kingdom.
