Kenyan woman sentenced to 100 lashes in Saudi Arabia over pregnancy outside marriage

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.

She gave birth to her son, Abudy, in August 2025 while living in staff accommodation. After a supervisor discovered the newborn, the two were taken to hospital, where police detained Muthoni for questioning over the pregnancy.

She told investigators that the child's father had left Saudi Arabia. Although she was later released, she was denied accommodation at the staff housing facility and turned away from a shelter.

With no immediate assistance, Muthoni ended up living at a petrol station that had become a temporary gathering place for migrant mothers hoping to return to their home countries with their children.

The New York Times reported last year that Muthoni's experience reflected challenges faced by East African domestic workers who become pregnant while working in Saudi Arabia, including difficulties obtaining birth certificates for their children and securing travel documents.

Following the publication's earlier investigation, Maharah provided Muthoni with accommodation, while the Kenyan Embassy issued documents allowing her to leave the country.

However, she remained unable to travel because the criminal proceedings against her were still ongoing.

Court proceedings took place over several hearings last summer before a three-judge panel in Riyadh. Muthoni said she was provided a translator, but no lawyer, an account that appeared consistent with the court documents the publication reviewed.

The court ultimately found her guilty and imposed the 100 lashes prescribed under its interpretation of Islamic law.

Labour migration analyst Ekaterina Porras Sivolobova, who has worked with stranded East African mothers in Gulf countries, criticised the sentence, saying it violated international human rights standards.

“This sentence of flogging does not align with international human rights standards,” she said.

She added that the punishment undermined the dignity of vulnerable women rather than protecting them.

The court also sentenced Muthoni to one year of banishment, although it was unclear whether this meant she would be deported to Kenya or transferred to another Saudi city.

The publication reported that Muthoni did not appeal the ruling, saying she believed accepting the sentence was her only chance of returning home.

“It is the only way that can take me back home to my children,” she said.

Muthoni is a mother of five, and her prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia has kept her separated from her other children in Kenya.

Her situation has also raised questions about the protection offered to Kenyan migrant workers, particularly women who experience abuse, become pregnant or find themselves stranded abroad.

The New York Times reported that the Kenyan, Saudi governments and representatives of Maharah did not respond to requests for comment.

It remained unclear when the lashes would be administered or whether Muthoni and her son would be allowed to leave Saudi Arabia, especially after the expiry of the travel documents previously issued by the Kenyan Embassy.