Saudi teen who fled family for Canada faces online backlash for posing in bikini next to pic of her in niqab
SAUDI teen Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has received a barrage of vile abuse after posting a picture of herself in a bikini on Twitter. The 19-year-old uploaded the image next to celebrate being a “free woman” after she fled her “abusive” family in Saudi Arabia. She sought asylum in Canada last year to escape the strict […]
SAUDI teen Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has received a barrage of vile abuse after posting a picture of herself in a bikini on Twitter.
The 19-year-old uploaded the image next to celebrate being a “free woman” after she fled her “abusive” family in Saudi Arabia.
She sought asylum in Canada last year to escape the strict kingdom amid alleged death threats from relatives.
Describing her transformation as “the biggest change in my life”,Rahaf also posted a before shot of herself in a niqab.
She wrote: “From being forced to wear black sheets and being controlled by men to being a free woman.”
But critics in Saudi Arabi were quick to slam her new look, with some saying Rahaf was making herself “naked”.
One user posted: “I really feel sad for people like you, Saudi woman are living in happiness, they are living a normal live they drive, go malls and now they travel alone, plus our prophet Muhammad said that women and men are equal.”
Another said: “Nobody forced you to wear anything you don’t want to wear, stop writing stupid things that are not even true.”
A third critic wrote: “I was checking her previous posts and got to know that she literally got all this fame because she threw hijab away and started clothing like in the second picture.”
And one asked: “From your point of view freedom means naked?”
However, others praised Rahaf for her bravery, saying she “looked amazing”.
Rahaf moved to Canada in January last year after fleeing her family while they were on a trip to Kuwait.
Initially she was heading for Australia via Bangkok but she was chased by Saudi officials who seized her passport.
Before she boarded her flight to Toronto, she explained: “(Australia) takes too long. That’s why I went to Canada.”
The teenager grabbed international attention after she barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room, resisting to be sent home to her family.
She soon started posting messages on Twitter from the transit area of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport saying she had “escaped Kuwait” and her life would be in danger if forced to return to Saudi Arabia.
Her passport was taken after a relative is said to have reported her for travelling without the company of a male guardian.
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At the time, Rahaf shared a tweet that she claimed was from her cousin in which she is threatened with being “slaughtered”.
The Saudi embassy in Bangkok faced global criticism after allegedly attempting to repatriate her to the Gulf kingdom against her will.
Thai authorities instead turned her over to the UN’s refugee agency before Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced that his country would welcome her.