A hotel worker of Egyptian origin was arrested in Saudi Arabia after sharing a meal with a fully veiled Saudi lady.
According to Saudi Arabia’s Labour Ministry, the Egyptian was seen in a widely shared video on social media. He and his colleague ate together in an office and peeked at the camera.
At one point, the woman in a dress that leaves only her hands and her eyes visible, giving the man a piece of food into his mouth.
A statement from the Ministry of Labour said Sunday that an inspection team had visited the hotel in the city of Mecca (west) and arrested the Egyptian for practicing a profession reserved for the Saudis, without providing more information. details.
The owner of the hotel was also summoned “for failing to respect the restrictive measures of gender-specific working of men and women,” the statement added.
Government regulations stipulate that workplaces should provide a private setting for women, regardless of men, but in practice this is not applied consistently.
The arrest of the Egyptian has provoked mixed reactions on social media, reports the Jordanian news website Al-Bawaba.
A Twitter user described the arrest as “crazy”
