A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a 40-year-old Kenyan domestic worker, Esther Wanja Muthoni, to 100 strokes of a cane and one year of banishment after convicting her of having s+x and giving birth outside wedlock.
According to The New York Times, Muthoni was sentenced last month after becoming pregnant during a brief relationship with an Egyptian man identified only as Mohamud, who later left Saudi Arabia.
Court documents did not reveal his surname or whether authorities attempted to prosecute him for the same offence.
Muthoni gave birth in August 2025 at accommodation provided for staff by her employer, Maharah Human Resources. She was taken to a hospital after her supervisor discovered the birth.
