The Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice—commonly referred to as the religious police—have reportedly investigated two men for acting in a “sissy-like” manner while dressed as dolls.
A photo of a full-sized doll outfit in the back of what appeared to be a police vehicle sparked the hashtag #الامر_بالمعروف_تعتقل_دميه in Saudi Arabia, which roughly translates to “Promotion of Virtue arrests a doll.”
Many social media users thought they were reading satire as the story broke on Twitter, however a report from the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice appears to confirm that the incident actually took place.
The statement from the committee describes how two men dressed up as dolls—one female, one male—in public in Riyadh, and apparently drew a large crowd. They were reported to the religious police, who investigated the incident.
The bizarre statement details how the men who dressed up were in trouble for acting in an unacceptable “sissy-like” manner. In addition to this, the religious police seem to have taken issue with the fact that there was a man in the female doll suit.
It goes on to say that after being reminded of God, they later regretted their actions, which were deemed un-Islamic.
There seems to have been some confusion over what exactly happened, with many thinking that the doll itself had been arrested for not wearing a Hijab. This led to a considerable number of jokes about the situation, accompanied by the viral hashtag.
See below, via Twitter.
#الامر_بالمعروف_تعتقل_دميه
— ريــم بنت عـبدالله (@Dr_R33M) February 8, 2016
كسرت خاطري البراءة pic.twitter.com/RxJqy2ZCaK
Oh how innocent!
What are you wearing? #الامر_بالمعروف_تعتقل_دميه pic.twitter.com/yiw9YzxKxd
— #فقط_في_السعودية (@onlyinsaudi) February 7, 2016
#الامر_بالمعروف_تعتقل_دميه
— غادة علي (@ghadah112) February 8, 2016
اعتقالها ياجماعة احسن من قتلها هههههههههه pic.twitter.com/hOBj0sDoNM
Arresting her is better than killing her, people!
