Authorities in Saudi Arabia have defended a judicial sentence of 200 lashes for a rape victim.
The justice ministry said in a statement that the sentence was justified because the woman was in a car with an unrelated man. ...
The 19-year-old, who has not been named, was travelling in a car with a male friend last year, when the car was attacked by a gang of seven men who raped both of them.
She has become known as the "Qatif girl", a reference to the largely Shia town which she comes from.
Qatif Girl has also been sentenced to six months in prison. The court banned her lawyer from the courtroom. The lawyer's licence has been taken away.
This Arab News story has some additional detail.
Some notes on lashing from a Nov. 16 International Herald Tribune story:
The woman remains free for the time being and has not yet been lashed.
Lashing is a common sentence under the Saudi penal code, applied for crimes ranging from homosexuality and drinking alcohol to theft and adultery. Usually, lashes are meted out in increments because offenders could not survive hundreds of lashes at once. The administrator of the punishment is supposed to hold a Koran under his arm so he cannot swing the whip too fiercely; lashes are not supposed to leave permanent scars. The sentence is frequently delivered in public, often at the entrance to a jail.