According to the victim’s brother, the young woman was sitting outside a shop that she worked in when she was approached by members of the religious police. They had asked her to go back inside, but she refused because she was unable to re-enter the shop until her supervisors called her back inside.

The confrontation escalated and her colleagues began to film it. This allegedly angered the religious police even more and they "took their rage out on the victim."



She was left with a bruised jaw and broken nails after the beating took place. She was then taken to hospital for treatment.

“This incident has left me surprised and confused all at once,” the victim’s brother said speaking to local media.

“How did they do this when their powers have now been restricted? How did they enter a store for women only? How could they beat my sister so violently? We all respect members of the religious police, but why did they not just give my sister their advice and let her go?”

The incident caused outrage on social media:

Translation: Who does he think he is to go through her phone like that and to look through her photos where there are photos of girls? Who does he think he is to go through her personal stuff like this? This man has no manners.

Saudi Arabia's religious police, also known as morality police and the hayaa in Arabic, operates as a quasi-police force with patrols in major cities enforcing religious decrees.

Saudi Arabia curbed the powers of the religious police last year.

The all-male force can no longer make arrests or pursue people in car chases, though they still patrol the streets and public places ensuring unrelated men and women are not mingling.