'I Am So Afraid': Kenyan Woman Speaks After Saudi Arabia Sentencing

A 40-year-old Kenyan domestic worker sentenced to 100 lashes and one year of banishment in Saudi Arabia is facing renewed uncertainty as her exit documents expire while she navigates a foreign legal system without legal representation.

Muthoni, a mother of five, was convicted last month by a three-judge panel at a criminal court in Riyadh for having sex outside marriage. The ruling followed the birth of her child in August 2025 at staff accommodation after a brief relationship with an Egyptian resident.

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei described the sentence as "cruel and inhuman" under Kenyan law while acknowledging the sovereignty of the Saudi legal system. He said that Kenya would continue engaging Saudi authorities over complex judicial enforcement issues affecting citizens abroad.

According to an investigation by The New York Times, Muthoni spent more than a year trying to return home before the sentence was handed down. After being discovered by a supervisor and questioned by police, she was turned away from staff housing and local shelters, eventually finding refuge at a petrol station utilized by stranded migrant mothers.

While the Kenyan Embassy initially provided little assistance, subsequent intervention following last year's media investigation led employer Maharah to provide accommodation. The embassy also issued travel documents, but ongoing criminal proceedings prevented her departure.

During the summer hearings, Muthoni was provided with a translator but lacked a lawyer, according to court documents and her own accounts. She chose not to appeal the ruling, stating her primary goal was returning home to her children.

"I am so afraid. I don't think I can endure those lashes," she told The New York Times, adding that she did not deserve the punishment.

The case has drawn criticism from labor migration advocates. Ekaterina Porras Sivolobova, founder of the non-profit organization Do Bold, argued that the sentence undermines women's dignity and violates international human rights standards.

The sentencing highlights ongoing gaps in Saudi Arabia's 2020 judicial reforms, which restricted flogging but maintained exceptions for offenses under Islamic law, such as extramarital relations. In the absence of a comprehensive written penal code, judges rely on traditional Sharia interpretations.

With her previously issued exit documents now expired and a one-year banishment order pending, it remains unclear how Muthoni and her child will secure safe passage back to Kenya.