Manama: Saudi Arabia has clipped the prerogatives of the powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the religious police, and banned it from chasing, arresting or asking for the identity papers of anyone.

Under a new structure and set of regulations endorsed by the cabinet at its weekly meeting, the commission will not move into action and will report suspicious cases to the police or the anti-drugs squads who will be fully in charge of all the measures that include chasing, arresting, detaining and questioning suspects.

The role of the commission will be limited to promoting Islamic values and contribute alongside the specialized anti-drugs agencies in fighting drugs by explaining their negative effects on families and the community.

The commission members will carry out their tasks in markets and public places and will work within specific times scheduled by their centres.

According to the new regulations, every member must display prominently a badge that carries his name, position, centre and official working hours.

Conditions for recruiting new members include a high education degree, competence to promote virtue and prevent vice, a good reputation and satisfactory behaviour.

The commission has often waded into controversy over its specific role and immense powers, following incidents, clashes and standoffs with Saudi citizens that triggered calls to reduce its prerogatives and hand them over to the police.

In February, a video clip that showed a video clip that showed a girl being beaten up in front of the Nakheel Mall in the capital Riyadh sparked outrage in Saudi Arabia. The girl and her friend were reportedly walking near the mall when they had a “bitter standoff” with members of the commission.

The friend said they were looking for a taxi when they were stopped by a commission patrol.

One of the men asked the two to cover their faces, but the girls initially resisted the order. However, they acquiesced when they saw the man getting off the car and approaching them, she said.

“The Commission member asked us if we were students or employees, and wanted to take us into the vehicle,” the girl said. “However, as we realised [there was a] large number of commission members, we refused and insisted that they call our families. However, the commission member did not listen and he and others tried to pull us inside the van by force,” she said.

The girl managed to flee into the mall even though the commission member was shouting to the guards to stop and apprehend her.

“The guards did not obey him and I was able to escape. My friend ran away towards the main avenue, and everybody saw on social media what happened to her. She was eventually kept away from the commission members and put on a bus that took her home. She was in a terrible state. The commission took her bag and some of her belongings, but she managed to keep the mobile phone that they wanted to wrestle out of her hand,” she said.

A security guard corroborated the version.

“They chased the girl for half an hour before she was made to fall on the ground where a part of her body was unveiled in public,” he said. “I was shocked to see the commission member hold the girl violently in his attempt to arrest her, which prompted me to jump in and rescue her and put her on a school bus,” he said.