Yesterday Riyadh Newspaper carried a story about a couple. Their relationship ended horribly when the guy blackmailed the girl into meeting him on a secluded roof. Only she came with a bottle of acid. She agreed that he would be there first waiting for her and when she got there he had already gotten down to his undies in anticipation but what he got was acid poured on his pelvic area. Unfortunately she was unable to get away before he had wrestled the acid from her and attacked her with it. They both started screaming in pain but no one came so they somehow managed to get down and run into the street where some civilians took them to the hospital. They were found to have 40% third degree burns and put in ICU.
What the guy was using to blackmail the girl was not mentioned in the article. However I’m betting that it was something relatively trivial like a photo with her face uncovered all dressed up to go to a party or maybe it was a tape recording of an illicit phone conversation, something that would not really be substantial enough to blackmail a single Muslim girl into sex anywhere else in the world except Saudi Arabia. What with so much being forbidden and our culture of shame one, shame the whole family, the stakes are so high. A girl who lets her guard down for a second sometimes will have to spend her whole life paying for it. I remember a friend of mine who was really smart and graduated from high school with a 98% and got accepted into the computer science department at King Saud University. Only she had the bad habit of making phone boyfriends during her years in high school, so her parents forced her the summer she graduated high school to marry a distant cousin who also happens to be a school drop out just so ‘yistir aliyha’, an Arabic term that means to cover her or to shield her from people’s talk. I visited her after she settled down and she told me that she had saved the bedsheet she lost her virginity to her husband on. I asked her why? She said it was like a keepsake but I believe it’s more than that. It’s her proof. Within a year she had a baby and we lost touch but I heard that she had many more babies and I don’t know if she ever got the chance to go to college. All because she liked to talk to guys over the phone. Granted that is a problem on a religious level but if it was only religion, her parents would have not taken such extremes to cure her of it. If this daughter got a reputation that she talks to guys, she would not only ruin her prospects of marriage, but that of her sisters. Hence her parents were sacrificing her for the sake of the family. It’s complicated with centuries and layers of tradition and culture and I’m not sure I personally want it to change but it would be nice if they would ease up a little on the girls so that they wouldn’t have to tote bottles of acid every time an innocent photo gets out.
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What is unusual about this story for me is the mutual acid attack, otherwise it is a particularly sad example as is the story of your phone call making friend. When the whole family system functions on the reputation of each family member it is harder to fault the parents for their actions. Still, one would have hoped they had found a better solution that would have allowed her to continue her studies, marry later, and have children when she wished.
What sad stories!
Sad Story……
obviously,it related to the sequences of livin in the kingdom !!
Insightful post and a situation I’ve heard of before here in Saudi. Your phrase “sacrificing her for the family” sent chills down my spine. Thanks – SGIME
while i empathize with the sad situation these kind of circumstances produce.. i haven’t a clue as 2 y u named ur post “Love n KSA”!
Is it a marketing thing?
Regardless, it is a moving sad story that I don’t know what 2 feel about it, exactly?! Do we let girls make boyfriends over the phone and just punish them but not their sisters? But those girls will become aunts of future babies! Hence, big risk of bad influence…
I hope you will follow-up with suggestions toward resolving the issue. After all, u r quad-qualified as an Educated Muslim Saudi Woman. I’d b interest to hear ur solutions along such problems.
peace out, sis 🙂
This is horrible I talk to guys all the time all my best friends are men and they are amazing human beings and look at what these people are doing! Please God help them!
I don’t feel sorry for the guy that was bathed with acid in his pelvic area. I hope more of his kind learn a lesson from this. To think he would have had his way with her just so that she can protect her her family dignity. Laa hawla walaa kuwwata illa billah..
Sad that the unnatural law of segregation within the Kingdom leads to such dire consequences. I pray for the day when Saudi women are free to live their lives as they choose, without harassment and intolerance.
‘Do we let girls make boyfriends over the phone and just punish them but not their sisters?’
Ahmad, you are absolutely right! Why should their sisters get away with having a slut for a sister? They should all be doused with acid. Even the boy’s sisters, just for good measure!
Ya’ll talk as if KSA is the worst place in the world for women but you are wrong. Pakistan is a top competitor in that regard. Do Saudi girls get raped by the whole village for her brother’s crimes? Let’s see, what’s the common denominator here? Arabic language? Nope! That’s not it. hmmm…
I soooooooo do agree…. ignorant comments by ahmad…
What a sad story! But I dont thnk I even have shred of sympathy for someone who tries to blackmail a girl into sex.
But I dont thnk marryin off so early someone as intelligent as ur friend is the right decision either. We need all the intelligent ppl we can get!
ممكن أتعرف على بنت
أنا عمري 20
ساكن بالمدينه
جوال:0565752452
iam lonely girl dying for a true lover(saudi).iam 14.i need boy of age 14-19only.0535993604
كل سعنودي شباب يبغي جنس بس.اي واحد مايبغي حب.ليش ليش ليش؟؟؟ماعندكم قلب؟؟؟
كل سعودي شباب يبغي جنس بس.اي واحد مايبغي حب.ليش ليش ليش؟؟؟ماعندكم قلب؟؟؟
is their any true lover in whole ksa??why saudi boys always go for sex?why??why there is only this relashionship for them?you dont know love?why??
i need true lover!
انا ساكن بلجده.ممكن اتعرف شاب سعودي.عمري 14
Love blooms rare and even mystiriously finds its way..
Btw Ahmed totaly agreed
Imran! Please send me an email to my new blog email address: chezchiara2 AT yahoo DOT com.
Thanks!