Saudis 'Opposed to the Right to Drive' Torch Woman's Car

She was threatened as soon as she started to drive
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 5, 2018 12:21 AM CDT
Saudi Woman Driver's Car Torched
In this June 21, 2018 photo, car saleswoman Maram Al-Hazer poses for a photograph inside a Lincoln Continental at the Al-Jazirah Ford showroom in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.   (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Saudi women are now finally allowed to drive—and not everybody in the conservative kingdom is happy about it. Salma al-Sharif, a 31-year-old cashier who used to spend close to half her salary on car services for herself and her elderly parents, says driving a car caused her to be insulted and threatened by men in her neighborhood before her car was torched by unknown attackers this week, the New York Daily News reports. Al-Sharif, who lives near the holy city of Mecca, says she believes her car was destroyed by those "opposed to the right of women to drive." Many Saudis have taken her side on social media, describing the attack as "terrorism," AFP reports. Around 120,000 Saudi women have applied for licenses since the decades-old ban on them driving was lifted last month. (More Saudi Arabia stories.)

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