A criminal court in Jeddah has issued a prison sentence of 10 months and 50 lashes to three sisters for eloping with two young men (one of whom is an expatriate) and living with them in a furnished apartment while the men were sentenced to two years of jail time and 600 lashes. The expatriate will be deported on completion of his sentence.

The punishment also included 100 lashes for one of the girls and the Yemeni expatriate who rented the apartment, for being involved in intimate and unlawful relations.

A third young man who wasn’t party to the crime but was involved in conducting phone calls to one of the girls was sentenced to 10 days in prison and 50 lashes.

The girls, in their defense, said that they ran away from home due to family disputes. The young man who had sheltered the two girls said that his relationship with them started when they came to his accessory shop a few years ago.

The details of the case came to light when the girls’ father filed a report with the authorities to say that his daughters had been missing for three days.