Saudi authorities investigate Snapchat model in miniskirt

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi authorities are investigating footage of a woman in a miniskirt and crop top walking through a historic site in the ultraconservative kingdom posted to social media over the weekend.

A series of videos, initially posted to the Snapchat account of “Model Khulood,” show a young woman in a high-waisted miniskirt walking through a fort in Ushaiqer, outside the capital Riyadh, playing with sand in the dunes and turning towards the camera for a close-up, her long hair uncovered.

The videos have since been uploaded to YouTube and tweeted by different users.

https://twitter.com/its__roudha/status/886674336287006720

The local government of Riyadh has issued a memo saying authorities were taking the “necessary measures” to find the woman, who it accused of “walking around… in indecent clothing.”

The Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice — Saudi Arabia’s “morality police” — on Sunday confirmed it was investigating the case in coordination with “relevant authorities” via Twitter.

The snaps have sparked heated debate, with social media users in the region and beyond weighing in on questions of gender and rights in the kingdom, where women are required to wear long black abaya robes and cover their hair in public.

— AFP