Saudi woman, 29, was in jail for disobeying her father

From Arab News:

Samar Badawi, the 29-year-old Saudi woman who was incarcerated for not obeying her guardian (mahram) following a lawsuit by her father, was freed Monday.

Samar has been in prison for seven months after her father filed a case against her accusing her of disobedience.

Abdullah Al-Othaim, the head of the District Court in Jeddah, told Arab News that a warrant stating that Samar Badawi is free has been issued.

“Samar’s uncle (from her father's side) will now take care of her, being now adjudged her male guardian,” he said.

Samar was sent to Briman Prison in Jeddah on April 4 after her father lodged a complaint against her accusing her of disobedience. The father filed the counter-suit after Samar had lodged a legal complaint accusing her father of preventing her from marrying. Samar is a divorced woman with one son.

Samar accused her father of abuse and fled her family home in 2008 to live in a shelter. Samar's mother is deceased. Samar fled the shelter last year after learning that her father had instituted the case against her.

Under Saudi law a woman who has no guardian or who is in dispute against her guardian becomes a ward of the state who can face imprisonment for refusing to stay in authorized women's shelters.

There's more in the article, but there is only so much bizarre 8th century thinking that the human brain can absorb at one time.