Almost whiplash for wearing pants in Sudan

khartoem - In Sudan, 24 women were to be charged with wearing inappropriate clothing, which meant they risked lashes, but the charge has nevertheless been withdrawn.

The women wore trousers earlier this week and were given a penalty of forty lashes and a fine, reports the BBC. The women were at a party near the Sudanese capital Khartoum when the vice squad invaded. That arrested the women at the sight of the clothes.

In the predominantly Muslim country, women's pants are considered an obscene garment. According to human rights activists, tens of thousands of women are arrested every year and flogged for such 'indecent behavior'. The rules are also arbitrarily imposed, they argue.