In Saudi Arabia, an influencer lost custody of her children after her husband claimed in court that her tattoos and green hair made her an unfit mother.
Refa Al-Yemi, a fitness coach and has a huge online following on TikTok and Snapchat, was then allegedly kidnapped by relatives who felt she was shaming them with her activities online.
Refa often shares health and beauty tips on her social media platforms.
Local news sites reported that the influencer was allegedly forcibly taken from her apartment in Jeddah by her own family members.
After this incident, rumors then started to circulate online that the Refa had been the victim of an “honor killing”, with the hashtag #IsRefaKilled? topping trends of Twitter in Saudi.
Fortunately, Albawaba reported and later confirmed that Refa had been taken from her apartment to Najran, but police had stopped the car and four people had been arrested.
The authorities have said that Refa is safe and is being looked after by social services.
Human rights advocates including Lina Alhathloul —whose sister Loujain was recently released from jail after calling for women’s freedom in Saudi—had expressed concern for Refa online.
“Rafa was an independent woman. Her male relatives did not like it and abducted her,” Lina tweeted. “She was found by the police, and instead of being saved, she was put in a care home aka a prison.”
Police authorities did not confirm whether the four people arrested are Refa’s relatives.
The fears that Refa had been killed began to circulate online shortly after she lost custody of her four children.
Refa’s husband was given custody after using her tattoos, hair color, and images of her workouts in court as “proof” that she was not a fit mother.