According to an investigation by The New York Times, Esther Wanja Muthoni, 40, was handed the sentence in October following court proceedings in Riyadh.
A Kenyan domestic worker stranded in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 100 lashes after a court found her guilty of having sex outside of marriage, adding to her struggle to return home with her one-year-old son.
According to an investigation by The New York Times, Esther Wanja Muthoni, 40, was handed the sentence in October following court proceedings in Riyadh.
Muthoni, who has been trying to return to Kenya for more than a year, told the publication that she feared the punishment and was uncertain whether she could withstand it.
“I am so afraid. I don’t think I can endure those lashes,” she said in a telephone interview.
The ruling comes despite Saudi Arabia's reforms aimed at curbing corporal punishment. In 2020, the kingdom announced restrictions on flogging, a move widely reported as a major step towards abolishing the practice.
However, the reforms retained exceptions for offences where Islamic law prescribes flogging, including sex outside marriage.
Muthoni had been working legally as a domestic worker through Saudi-based Maharah Human Resources when she became pregnant following a brief relationship with an Egyptian man identified in court documents as Mohamud.
