I have just spent the last 6 months working in Saudi Arabia.
Things like this do not surprise me. When I was in Riyadh, an 80 year
old lady was given lashes for having an electrician in her house( women are not allowed to have contact with non-relatives or men with whom
they are not married ) when it was 48 degrees outside. She was just trying to get the air conditioning working.
It can be miserably hot there!!