(CNN) — A self-styled Islamist preacher accused of beating and torturing his 5-year-old daughter to death was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison and 600 lashes, and was ordered to pay “blood money” to the girl’s mother, according to an official with a government-backed human rights body.
A Saudi court in the town of Hawta found Fayhan al-Ghamdi guilty on Monday, Mohammed Almadi of Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission told CNN.
“The girl’s mother ceded her original request to sentence the father to death,” explained Almadi, citing a lawyer for his group who was in the courtroom. “She has since asked for the father to pay her blood money instead, which is her right in the Saudi legal system.”
Watch CNN Story Below:
