britexpat--to be honest the reason I posted this was because I read in the Gulf Times how a housemaid was sentenced to 300 lashes for illicit relations. The rest--corporal punishment for criminals, children and spouses, stems from that in order to broaden the discussion. Otherwise it just becomes another bashing thread about the Qatari judicial system, and that isn't where I wanted to take the conversation. Besides there's already been a thread about the domestic abuse of women recently.

Believe it or not, I really don't have a hidden agenda. I think you are reading to hard into my threads.