- JEDDAH: A spokesman for the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) in Riyadh dismissed in a statement reports that Haia members seized a large number of abayas (black gowns worn by women) in a shop in the capital.
“The Haia members are only a part of a committee set up by the Interior Ministry to implement the instructions governing abayas. The committee acts on the strength of a fatwa issued by the Council of Senior Scholars,” Khaled Al-Mahmoud said.
According to reports on websites, the Haia members raided an abaya shop in an old street in Riyadh Friday evening. They seized all the abayas that were supposed to be the latest trends.
The shopkeeper reportedly said 18 abayas were seized and torn to pieces. He said he suffered huge losses because of the raid.
He said he did not display the abayas in his shop but had kept them in boxes for special clients.
