Woman in Saudi Arabia questioned by police about breakfast with male coworker

Police in Saudi Arabia are questioning a woman who appeared in a video having breakfast with a man, provoking an outcry on social media in the conservative kingdom.

According to Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh, police in Jeddah acted upon the orders of the authorities after the video went viral on Sunday. The man, believed to be Egyptian, had already been arrested. 

Local media said both suspects work at the hotel where the meal was shared, and that the hotel will be subjected to penalties for failing to enforce regulations that govern women’s work and observe laws around segregation of the sexes.  

A number of videos have recently circulated on social media allegedly showing women and men breaching the kingdom's strict cultural norms.

Translation: The plan: Film inappropriate clips of girls wearing full-face niqab. First: Defame Saudi women Second: Distort image of niqab. Third: Gradually spread indecency in society.

The latest reportedly showed two Saudi females working in a garment store, with one discarding her abaya. The clip, which could not be verified independently by Middle East Eye, sparked renewed calls for the enforcement of religious law.

The kingdom recently curbed the powers of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the religious police unit in charge of enforcing public morality.

Among a number of social reforms spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, women have been granted the right to drive, but activists are facing a clampdown on dissent.