SHOCKING The death of an ailing woman student at a Saudi university has stirred controversy on social media after an ambulance was denied access under the conservative Muslim kingdom's segregation laws. Amna Bawazeer, 24, died of a heart attack in the compound of the social sciences faculty of Riyadh's King Saud University.
Local media said medics in an ambulance were denied access because they were not accompanied by a "mehram", a legal guardian or male member of her family.
Angry female students have gone on Twitter to blame faculty officials for Bawazeer's death.
But the university's administration hit back in a statement to stress that the student had suffered from a heart condition from the age of four.
She had died of a heart attack which proved fatal, despite the best efforts of the faculty's own infirmary to save her life.
In 2002, 15 young girls died in a school fire in the holy city of Mecca after religious police blocked their evacuation because they were not dressed in keeping with Islamic codes.
@Plaid_Abdullah
The death of University Amna Bawazeer will be mourned. The segregation of sexes in our nation is strict, but we must care for our citizens.
@BintBattuta87
#PT: Sign the petition to encourage #Saudi authorities to make sure to save women's lives before their "modesty"
Witnesses said men in the civil defence were kept at bay because the children, aged 12 to 14, were not veiled or wearing the long, black "abaya" robe which covers the entire body.
Saudi Arabia imposes a strict interpretation of Islamic laws, notably a segregation of the sexes, and does not allow women to work or travel without the authorisation of a male guardian from her family.
It is also the only country in the world that bans women from driving.
@SamAbbasi
I think nothing +ive happens in Saudi Arabia otherwise the "Liberals" might post it here. Saudi the most Evil place ever!!
@FiduciaryLove
This is biggest stupidity. No religion allow this. Dont know when these fanatics will learn.
This is not the first instance that strict gender segregation rules have claimed life in Saudi Arabia. On March 11, 2002, a fire at a girls' school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia killed fifteen people, all young girls. The event was especially notable due to complaints that Saudi Arabia's "religious police" (aka the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) stopped schoolgirls from leaving the burning building and hindered rescue workers because the girls were not wearing correct Islamic dress.
As Hanny Megally, Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch put it, "Women and girls may have died unnecessarily because of extreme interpretations of the Islamic dress code. State authorities with direct and indirect responsibility for this tragedy must be held accountable."
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