A woman who gave birth outside marriage was sentenced to 100 lashes in Saudi Arabia after being reported to the authorities.

Women’s rights campaigners have raised the alarm after reports that a Kenyan domestic worker is due to be punished for the birth, which can be considered an offence under the country’s Sharia law system.

The mother, Esther Wanja Muthoni, has been left in limbo and fear of the possible punishment more than a year after she gave birth to her son.

She is one of scores of women recruited from the African continent to Saudi Arabia, many of them working in homes and as nannies.

One of them is Muthoni, who was living with her baby under some trees at a Riyadh gas station.

The domestic worker gave birth to the baby boy last year after a brief relationship with an Egyptian man, who has since left the country, the New York Times reports.

The kingdom, which follows Islamic Sharia law, is among the top countries for migrant workers.

As of the end of last year, the country hosted an estimated 10 million non-Saudi workers, with many of them in the capital, Riyadh, according to the UN migration agency IOM.

Her pregnancy outside marriage was discovered when she went into labour in the staff housing in August last year before being taken to a hospital.

She was then reportedly detained for questioning by the police, who asked her about the pregnancy.

Pregnancies by unmarried women fall into a grey area under the unwritten Sharia penal code, leaving judges room to interpret it.

In the mother’s case, the judges decided to sentence her to 100 lashes based on a Quran verse after deeming her guilty of having sex outside marriage in October.

The 40-year-old told NYT: ‘I am so afraid.

‘I don’t think I can endure those lashes.’

The mother of five continues to wait to see when or if the sentence will be carried out, and hopes she can return to Kenya, even through a deportation.

UK human rights group Alqst labelled her punishment as an act of violence and contrary to the image the kingdom wants to portray internationally.

Saudi Arabia has previously announced a review into flogging as punishment, but it remains a possible option for judges considering cases like drinking alcohol or adultery, it is understood.

Metro approached the Saudi government for a comment.

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