A Mombasa woman who travelled to Saudi Arabia in search of better opportunities ended up being arrested and deported after authorities discovered that she had two children with a Saudi man she was not legally married to.
Ann Muthoni recounted her experience during an interview with TUKO Talks, explaining that her ordeal began after her young son unexpectedly wandered away from their home.
Muthoni said she had two sons with her Saudi partner. However, soon after their second child, Reign, was born, the children’s father was arrested, leaving her responsible for raising both boys alone.
The situation took a turn when her older son reportedly slipped out of the house and was later found alone on the streets. Police officers who found him took him to a police station.
Muthoni went to the station to retrieve her son, where officers questioned her about the child and his family background. She openly explained that she had two children with a Saudi national but was not married to him.
She said she did not know that revealing the information could result in legal consequences.
“I didn’t know that the same information I was giving him would be used against me,” she recalled, explaining that having children outside marriage could attract serious legal consequences under the laws she encountered in Saudi Arabia.
According to Muthoni, officers handcuffed her and placed her in custody. The situation was especially challenging because her younger son was still an infant and depended on her for constant care.
She was eventually deported to Kenya and returned to Mombasa with both children after their father formally gave permission for them to leave Saudi Arabia with her.
Upon returning home, Muthoni said she was relieved to have her children safely back in Kenya. Despite the difficult experience, she remains hopeful that she could eventually reunite with her Saudi partner and marry him.
Her experience underscores the need for people moving abroad to familiarise themselves with the laws of their destination country, particularly regulations concerning marriage, relationships and parenthood.