Saudi court sentences Kenyan domestic worker to 100 lashes for giving birth outside of marriage

The sentence is a crushing blow to the mother, who has attempted for more than a year to return to Kenya with her child but has been blocked at every turn.

Muthoni, 40, was working legally as a domestic worker through the Saudi corporation Maharah Human Resources when she had a brief relationship with an Egyptian resident and became pregnant.

After giving birth in August 2025 in staff housing, she was detained by police and later refused entry from staff accommodation and a shelter, receiving no help from the Kenyan Embassy.

She has since lived at a petrol station that has become a meeting place for migrant mothers, many of whom craved deportation with their children.

Legal conviction and punishment

Multiple hearings took place last summer before a three-judge panel at a criminal court in Riyadh. Muthoni says she was provided with a court translator but not a lawyer.

A court found Muthoni guilty of having sex before marriage in October, relying on an orthodox interpretation of Islamic law that prescribes 100 lashes based on a verse in the Quran.

The court judgment does not suggest that the state pursued the father, Mohamud, who had left the country.

Under Saudi law, women are seated and clothed while lashed across the body with a bamboo stick. As well as the lashes, the court sentenced Muthoni to a year of banishment.

Following the ruling issued last month, it is unclear when the lashing will take place. The Kenyan exit documents have also expired, so it is not clear whether or how she and her son will be allowed to return to Kenya.

Systemic issues for migrant workers

Muthoni and her 1-year-old son, Abudy, are victims of an exploitative industry that recruits African women to Saudi Arabia in a labour pipeline from which top Kenyan government officials profit, according to the New York Times.

The children of unwed mothers are regularly denied birth certificates, and Kenya's diplomats, responsible for issuing them and helping mothers and children get home, frequently ignore them, insult them and solicit bribes for sex.

Hundreds of Kenyan women have been killed in Saudi Arabia, while reports of rape and beatings are common, the newspaper claimed.

For women who become pregnant, like Muthoni, giving birth brings added punishment and danger.

Reform loopholes

In 2020, the government announced significant curbs to the sentence of lashes, but Muthoni's situation shows inconsistencies in the kingdom's supposed reforms.

While Saudi and international news outlets gave the impression that flogging had been abolished, the decision left a loophole for cases in which Islamic law prescribes flogging, including for sex outside marriage.

It is impossible to determine how often lashing is still ordered, because judgements for morality crimes are not routinely published.

Without any legal representation, Muthoni did not appeal her sentence.

Under Saudi law, if a judgment does not specify a destination, the person is usually sent to another Saudi city. Courts are able to review such sentences if women have no male relatives to accompany them. It was not known whether this means Muthoni will be deported to Kenya.