New Delhi: A Saudi court will review the sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes handed down to a gang rape victim.
Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, was quoted by news agencies as saying that "the Saudi judiciary will review the case".
The move comes after the verdict sentencing the victim led to an international outcry. It has also drawn sharp criticism from human rights agencies.
In fact, the New York based Human Rights Watch has said that such a verdict offered protection to the criminal rather than bringing justice to the victim.
The 19-year-old was attacked at knifepoint by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a relative.
In October 2006, a judge sentenced her to 90 lashes. But her sentence was made more than double – 200 lashes and six months in jail for speaking out to the media.
The woman's original trial took place last year. Her attackers got sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in jail.
And the Saudi judge determined the victim was also to blame – for illegally "mingling."
The Saudi Arabian government has defended the controversial verdict by saying the victim had admitted having an extramarital affair with the man in the car.
In Saudi Arabia, women cannot travel without the permission from a male relative.
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