A 40-year-old Kenyan domestic worker living in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 100 lashes and one year of banishment after being convicted of having a child outside marriage.
The woman, identified as Muthoni, was found guilty by a criminal court in Riyadh in October, with the ruling reportedly delivered last month.
According to an investigation by The New York Times, cited by the Daily Mail, Muthoni has been unable to return to Kenya for more than a year as she awaits the conclusion of her legal proceedings.
The mother of five reportedly became pregnant following a relationship with an Egyptian man while working legally as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia.
She gave birth to a boy in August 2025 at staff accommodation, where a supervisor discovered her and took her to hospital. Police subsequently detained her for questioning over the pregnancy.
Muthoni told investigators that the child's father had already left Saudi Arabia.
The report indicates that she subsequently lost access to her accommodation and was unable to secure assistance from a shelter. At one point, she reportedly lived at a petrol station alongside other migrant mothers.
Although her employer later arranged accommodation and the Kenyan Embassy issued travel documents to facilitate her return home, she could not leave while the court proceedings were ongoing. The documents have since expired.
Muthoni reportedly had access to a court translator but was not represented by a lawyer during the proceedings, which involved several hearings before a three-judge panel.
The sentence has also drawn attention to Saudi Arabia's continued application of corporal punishment despite reforms announced in 2020 restricting flogging, with exceptions reportedly remaining for offences where punishment is prescribed under Islamic law.
Muthoni did not appeal the ruling, saying her priority was returning to her children in Kenya.
She has expressed fear over the sentence, telling The New York Times that she was uncertain whether she could endure the punishment.
It remains unclear when the sentence will be implemented or whether the one-year banishment will lead to her deportation to Kenya.
