A 40-year-old Kenyan domestic worker has been sentenced to 100 lashes and one year of banishment by a court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for giving birth outside marriage. According to New York Times, Esther Wanja Muthoni, a mother of five, received the sentence last month after being found guilty of having sex outside marriage under Islamic law.
Muthoni travelled to Saudi Arabia legally to work as a domestic worker through Maharah Human Resources. While in the kingdom, she entered a brief relationship with an Egyptian man and later became pregnant.
She gave birth to her son, Abudy, in August 2025 while living in staff accommodation. The court imposed the 100 lashes prescribed under Islamic law for the offence. However, its ruling did not mention any action against the child’s father, who has since left Saudi Arabia.
Muthoni went through the court proceedings without legal representation. She reportedly chose not to appeal the decision for fear that doing so would prolong her stay in the kingdom.
She has spent more than a year trying to return to Kenya with her child but has been unable to travel due to documentation challenges. Her Kenyan exit documents have since expired, leaving her uncertain about when she can return home.
It also remains unclear when the sentence will be carried out or what arrangements will be made for her return to Kenya. The ruling shows the limits of a decade of social and legal reforms in a kingdom where women can be jailed and punished for “illegal pregnancy.”
The sentence is a harsh turn in what has been a terrifying ordeal for a mother who has tried for more than a year to return to Kenya with her child but has been blocked at every turn. Muthoni is one of thousands of East African domestic workers who were recruited to work as housekeepers and nannies in Saudi Arabia.
