Saudi authorities arrest plumber who harassed Saudi woman

Saudi authorities arrested a Yemeni plumber who allegedly stalked and harassed a woman numerous times after he did a maintenance job at her home, Ajel news site reported. 

According to the news site's sources, the man met the divorced woman who lives with her children after he came into her house to fix a drain. 

A few days later, he started sending her inappropriate texts, demanding that she starts a relationship with him. 

When the woman rejected his attempts, he started stalking her, leaving packages outside her home, and insistently knocking on the door. 

Terrified of his abusive actions, the woman finally reported the plumber to the kingdom's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (also known as the religious police).

In collaboration with Mecca's police department, the man was tracked down, identified, and arrested. 

Investigators found several of the indecent messages on his phone and have now referred him to prosecution.

While this case counts as the most recent, it certainly isn't an isolated one. Incidents involving different forms of harassment, from >verbal to >sexual, have been reported in the kingdom in recent months. 

In December of last year, a taxi driver> was arrested by Saudi authorities after he verbally harassed a female passenger. 

In November 2017, authorities >also arrested an Arab employer who had harassed several of his female employees, trying to force them into having relationships with him. 

The kingdom continues to crack down on such abuse cases and is currently drafting an >anti-sexual harassment law. 

Women's rights activists and others across the country have been calling on authorities to speed up the passing of the law, stating it is of vital importance in the country because women continue to face high rates of harassment.