A woman who defied a driving ban on female motorists in Saudi Arabia has died in a car crash.
Another was hurt in the crash in the only country in the world where females are banned from getting behind the wheel.
A police spokesman said that one of the women was killed instantly but the other had to go to hospital to be treated for her injuries.
They were in a four-wheel drive on Saturday evening in the northern Hael province when the accident happened.
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| The woman's death comes months after Manal Al-Sherif (pictured) was detained for defying the driving ban |
'One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries' police spokesman Abdulaziz al-Zunaidi told AFP.
Her death comes after they joined a growing number of women who have defied the ban since a high-profile campaign by a 32-year-old computer security consultant.
Manal al-Sherif was arrested and detained for 10 days in May after posting a video of herself on YouTube as she drove around Khobar, a city to the east of the country.
Al-Sherif and a group of other women started a Facebook page called 'Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself,' which urged authorities to lift the driving ban.
Several other Saudi women went on to film themselves behind the wheel of a car in the days after al-Sherif's detention.
Women struggle to get around in Saudi Arabia, and it isn't just a result of the driving ban. Taxis can be sparse and some men refuse to drive a woman without a chaperone - usually their husband or a close male relative. One of the arguments that was thrown out by officials was that it was illegal for women to possess a driving license but not for them to drive.
In September, a woman in Jeddah named Shayma Jastaniah was found guilty of driving through the streets.
She was sentenced to 10 lashes as a result of the charges despite holding an international driving license.
Daily Mail, London |
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