A pardon issued by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia for hundreds of prisoners to mark the holy month of Ramadan has saved two women who had been sentenced for one year in jail and 500 lashes each for their complicity in the kidnap and rape of a nine-year-old Afghan girl, local dailies said Friday.
Zainab Mousa, a Nigerian, and Mervat Imam, an Egyptian, had been found guilty by a court in Medina in Central Saudi Arabia for failing to inform the authorities about the incident, the newspapers said.
Their husband, identified only as Jinaidi, an Egyptian, and his sister Jamalat were sentenced to death for kidnapping the girl and locking her up for nearly four years at their house, where Jinaidi had regularly raped her.
Saudi police said they had released the Nigerian and Egyptian women and were taking procedures to deport them. Emirates Business
