Fifteen girls died - Worth Noting - Brief Article

Humanist, May-June, 2002 by Karen Ann Gajewski

* In Saudi Arabia this past March, fifteen girls died when religious zealots forced them back into a blazing school building because they weren't wearing Islamic headscarves and black robes. Scuffles broke out between firefighters and members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

A civil defense officer told the Arabic-language newspaper al-Eqtisadiah that he saw three of the religious police "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya." The much-feared mutaween roam the streets wielding sticks to enforce dress codes and sex segregation and to ensure that prayers are performed on time. Those who disobey are beaten and sometimes jailed.