The Religious Policeman

....although in one detail it is.

50-Year-Old Woman Hides Jewelry in Womb

RIYADH, 24 March 2004 — A 50-year-old woman hid her gold jewelry in her womb in a desperate attempt to prevent her siblings from depriving her of the last of her inheritance, according to a press report.

Al-Watan newspaper said the woman’s siblings had stripped her of her inheritance from her father and her late husband and kept her locked up in a room with boarded-up windows for 11 years.

...When she threatened to report them, they locked her up, she said. During her 11 years of captivity, she was only permitted to see one sister every four or five months.

What is not so unusual is that her sister visited her, but did not report her imprisonment. That's because it's quite normal for male relatives to keep females locked up. Perhaps not for 11 years, but for substantial lengths of time.

Many Saudi houses have grilles over all the windows. That's not to keep burglars out, because burglary rates are low. It's to keep wives and housemaids inside, when the husband is away. Sadly it's a fairly common practice. And every now and again there is a fire, and they all die, because they can't get out.

(And no, I don't keep my (one) wife locked in the house. Nor our Filipino maid. However, unless they want to walk, they need someone to drive them around, they can't drive themselves of course. So the Filipino maid's husband is our driver, and they live in a flat in part of our house, which is a good arrangement).