Woman arrested for hugging male singer during Saudi Arabia Concert

A woman in Saudi Arabia was arrested after she ran on stage to hug a male singer during a concert, the media reported.

Singer Majid al-Mohandis was performing at a festival in the western city of Taif on Friday when the woman darted on to the stage, the BBC reported on Saturday. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to mix in public with men who are unrelated to them.

The police arrested the woman and referred her to the public prosecution to face charges under the law criminalising harassment. “The suspect is held at the Al-Taif Foundation for Women”s Care pending investigation,” the Mecca police official spokesman said.

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Videos posted online showed the woman holding on to Mohandis while security staff tried to pull her off him. Mohandis, whose website calls him “the prince of Arab singing”, has not commented on the incident. 

The Iraqi-born singer, who also has Saudi citizenship, continued to perform after the incident. 

Restrictions that had long been placed on women attending public events in the Kingdom have been relaxed in the past year under a series of reforms by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.