Saudi social media users express outrage at video of park cleaner being slapped

Saudi social media users express outrage at video of park cleaner being slapped
A video being shared on twitter of a man slapping a park cleaner has caused outrage on social media.
2 min read
12 Jul, 2018
The video that emerged shows a park cleaner being attacked by a man [Getty]

A video has gone viral on Twitter of a man slapping a cleaner in a park in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, causing an uproar on social media.

Saudi twitter users were outraged at the video and called on the authorities to take immediate measures against the assailant.

Twitter user @Sul6an_0_ said: "There is no excuse for his actions and nothing gives him the right to attack the worker … All workers can be reported in case they neglect their work — and if they’ve committed a criminal act the assailant should’ve just called 999. Attacking a simple worker is no sign of manhood or bravery but weakness and meanness and the lack of humanity."

"Only a mean and despicable person would stretch his hand to a poor man!!! If for example, the cleaning worker made a mistake you aren’t the one to punish him. He works for the government, and this man’s act is overstepping the government — I hope they catch him and teach him not to hurt others ever again," tweeted another user, @Abody456.

@Jdeed2002 said: "No one is satisfied with what this young man has done. The country has a government to tackle any shortcomings. We do not live in the jungle."

Last year, the Saudi Twittersphere erupted in a similar fashion when a video emerged of a migrant worker being slapped by a man, in yet another attack on the kingdom's vulnerable manual labourers.

The video which surfaced online showed a man, who is assumed to be Saudi, abusing a south Asian migrant worker after catching him eating in day-light during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

“You dog! In Ramadan?” he screamed at the visibly terrified worker before slapping him across the face. The man then demanded the worker to stand up, as he continued to shout at him.

While people on social media condemned the abuse, few called for reformation of rights for religious minorities, or for those considered vulnerable workers - usually employees of non-Arab backgrounds.