Saudi woman arrested for wearing a miniskirt and crop top in public

A young Saudi woman has been arrested after she posted a video online of herself in a miniskirt and crop top walking around in public.

The woman has been arrested by Riyadh police for wearing "suggestive clothing".

The brief clips, originally posted to Snapchat over the weekend by a popular user named Khulood, show the woman walking through an ancient fort in a village.

The woman wears a skirt that stops above her knees and a top that shows her midriff; her head is also uncovered.

Such an outfit runs afoul of conservative Islamic ideas about women's dress that are prevalent in Saudi Arabia. The country legally requires women to cover themselves while in public by wearing an abaya, a loosefitting cloak.

Traditionally, Saudi women are also expected to wear some kind of hijab or head covering, and some opt to cover their face with a niqab.

Although foreigners are usually exempted from such rules and Saudi women often find ways to skirt them, many religiously conservative Saudis feel strongly about them.

Some argued that as the woman lived in Saudi Arabia, she should accept its laws.

But others offered their support for the woman, suggesting her behaviour was brave and that prominent foreigners sometimes dress similarly when visiting Saudi Arabia, and they are exempted from the country's dress codes.

The exact fate of the woman remains unclear.

Source: CBS