MAKKAH: The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice here arrested a 20-year-old man who had allegedly been blackmailing an 18-year-old girl.

“The youth had taken the girl’s cell phone, which had photos of her, and threatened to show them to her brother if she didn’t give him money,” said a commission spokesman. “The girl came to a commission center here with her older sister to report that she was being blackmailed. She had known the man for a year. When she wanted to end contact with him, he threatened to show her pictures to her brother,” he added. The girl initially paid SR5,000 to get her phone back. “This money she collected by selling her jewelry. The youth then contacted her six months later demanding SR3,000 and that she had to come with him wherever he wants,” he said. The girl then went to the commission to report she was being blackmailed. “The commission member told the girl to arrange a meeting with the man in Al-Otaibiya Market. When he showed up, commission members arrested him. However, he tried to flee but could not escape the tight grip of the Commission members holding him,” he added.

Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, head of the commission branch in Makkah, said the commission would not hesitate to help women in similar situations. “The commission will ensure confidentiality. Women should not succumb to such men and come forward,” he added.