A woman suspected of being Saudi Arabia’s first female car thief has been caught on camera – just two months after women were allowed to drive.
The CCTV clip, filmed in Saudi Arabia’s Al Dammam, shows a woman opening the door of the unattended red vehicle before reversing and driving off.
It comes just two months after the Kingdom finally allowed women to drive, ending the world’s only ban on female motorists.
Overturning the decades-long ban, a glaring symbol of repression against women, is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s much-trumpeted reform drive to modernise the conservative kingdom.
A woman believed to be Saudi Arabia’s first female car thief has been caught on camera – just two months after women were allowed to drive
The CCTV clip, filmed in Saudi Arabia’s Al Dammam, shows a woman opening the door of the unattended red vehicle before reversing the vehicle and driving off
The clip shows a white car waiting by parking spaces in the coastal city. A red vehicle then pulls up and a man gets out and walks off.
A woman climbs out of the back seat of the white car and appears to look before getting behind the wheel. She can be seen backing the car out and driving off down the road.
According to Stepfeed, the footage has divided opinion in Saudi Arabia with some doubting its authenticity. Some accused her of stealing the vehicle, while others suggested it may just have been a prank.
In June the kingdom began issuing its first driving licences to women in decades, with some swapping their foreign permits for Saudi ones after undergoing a practical test.
Some three million women in Saudi Arabia could receive licences and actively begin driving by 2020, according to consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
A handful of female driving schools have cropped up in cities like Riyadh and Jeddah, training women to drive cars and also Harley Davidson motorbikes – scenes that were unimaginable even a year ago.
A woman climbs out of the back seat of the white car and appears to look before getting behind the wheel. She can be seen backing the car out and driving off down the road (pictured)
It comes just two months after the Kingdom finally allowed women to drive, ending the world’s only ban on female motorists
Overturning the decades-long driving ban, a glaring symbol of repression against women, was part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s much-trumpeted reform drive to modernise the conservative kingdom
For decades, hardliners cited austere Islamic interpretations to justify the driving ban, with some asserting that women lack the intelligence to drive and that lifting the prohibition would promote promiscuity.
The decision to lift the ban was catalysed in large measure by what experts characterise as economic pain in the kingdom owing to a protracted oil slump.
The move is expected to boost women’s employment, and according to a Bloomberg estimate, add $90 billion to economic output by 2030.
Many women fear they are still easy prey for conservatives in a nation where male ‘guardians’ — their fathers, husbands or other relatives — can exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on their behalf.
The government has preemptively addressed concerns of abuse by outlawing sexual harassment, with a prison term of up to five years and a maximum penalty of 300,000 riyals ($80,000).