By Abdulaziz Al-Rubaie

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

MAKKAH — The Criminal Court in Makkah has sent two young Saudis to jail for burning a woman's car in Jamoum region, to the west of the holy city. The two have also been awarded lashes by the whip.

The car of Salma Al-Sharif was set ablaze right in front of her home. Earlier, the court acquitted the two men for lack of sufficient evidence in October 2018.

Salma appealed the verdict and the Court of Appeals in Makkah returned the case to the Criminal Court rejecting its verdict and asking it to reconsider its ruling.

The Criminal Court started to reconsider the case in April and found the two guilty of arson and other crimes.

Kamal Al-Sharif, Salma's lawyer, said the court held two sessions on May 14 and June 17 before issuing its latest verdict on Sunday.

The lawyer said the court took a long time to arrive at its verdict because it was waiting for the estimated price of the car from a committee of experts.

He said Salma demanded a compensation of SR1 million for her car especially that the two defendants admitted their crime during investigations by the Public Prosecution. Later, the two backtracked on their admission of guilt before the before they changed what they said before the court.