It's been over a year since the ban lift on women driving in Saudi Arabia >took effect, but it seems some men just can't deal with the reality of things.
Earlier this week, police in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province referred a man to public prosecution after his neighbor sued him for trying to stop her from driving her car. In a statement to local media, the >woman said the man had harassed her for months because he didn't want her - a woman - to get behind the wheel.
The defendant - a man in his 50s - had constantly tried to block the woman from accessing her car which was parked outside her home. He deliberately crashed into the vehicle's rear area on several occasions; he also beat a male domestic worker who works for the complainant.
The woman filed several police reports against the man and presented videos to prove her case.
The man previously signed a restraining order that banned him from approaching the woman's property. However, after he broke the order's rules, officials referred the case to court.
He's been let out on bail until investigations are over.
A few Saudi men can't seem to handle the fact that women can now drive in the kingdom
Women in Saudi Arabia were finally granted the long-fought-for right to drive last June. However, there are a few men in the country who are upset over the fact that their misogyny couldn't stop women from hitting the roads.
In the months following the ban lift, a number of cases of Saudi men attacking women drivers have been reported across the kingdom.
A Saudi woman identified as Salma Al-Sharif sued two men who allegedly set her> car on fire shortly after the ban was lifted. The young woman had decided to hit the kingdom's roads after getting her license, but a few men in her hometown Al Jamoum repeatedly threatened and harassed her.
Despite all this, Al-Sharif defiantly drove her car, which in turn angered the men. So, they burned her car down in a hate crime that shocked thousands.
Al-Sharif took her case to court but a judge found the defendants> innocent. She is >now appealing the sentence and fighting for her right to drive.
In April, another Saudi man was >arrested for burning down a woman's brand-new car in Taif. The detainment came after a video documenting the suspect's crime was widely circulated on social media. At the time, the car owner, a teacher identified by her first name Amira, reportedly said the suspect was a relative who objected to women's right to drive in the country.
A few female drivers also got harassed on Saudi highways
"As I was driving my car today, I was harassed by a young man on The King's highway. The man kept on chasing after my car, going right and left in the three lanes ahead of us! When he realized we were filming him, he sped away. He put my life and my family's life in danger and also risked the lives of those driving around us. I reported him to the kingdom's authorities."
Burning cars isn't the only crime some Saudi men have been committing to object to women driving in the country.
Harassing female drivers has also become a thing in recent months. In 2018, Dr. Samar Khan, a Saudi national who was >harassed by a male driver while driving her car, made her case public. At the time, Khan filmed the incident and reported it to police in order to teach her harasser a lesson.