A fascinating little incident came to light last month, reported by the Saudi Gazette under the tantalising headline “Committee to probe rioting in Makkah Girl’s Correction Home”:

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, Saturday ordered the formation of a committee to probe Friday night’s rioting in the Girl’s Correction Home in Makkah, Dr. Ali Al-Hanaki, Director of Social Affairs in Makkah, said.

Four inmates of the correction home and some social workers were injured as clashes broke out in the facility Friday night.  Over 65 security men including 15 women jail guards managed to restore order to the Girls’ Correction Home as inmates staged a violent protest when the Ministry of Social Affairs rejected their demand to replace the facility’s director, some employees and liaison officers.

Describing the clashes as “mutiny”, Dr. Al-Hanaki said it was led by some inmates attempting to force the ministry to submit to their demand to replace the director, some female social workers and liaison officers. He said inmates also tore up reports containing records of their past violent behavior. He said preliminary information shows that two social workers who have had differences with the director were responsible for instigating five inmates to press for their demands.

He said the ministry would take harsh action against the violating inmates who exceeded the rules. “What has happened is in flagrant violation of the home’s principles and the ministry’s rules,” he said.

The Correction Home rehabilitates inmates from different parts of the Kingdom and reunites them with their families after they complete the terms to which they have been sentenced. There are 65 inmates in the facility.

Sources said a scuffle broke out between the inmates and the home’s staff last Wednesday which developed into a quarrel and rioting on Friday.

So, here’s the game: what happened next? I can easily extrapolate a real-life story like this into a fantasy world, in which the “harsh action” taken sees those responsible soundly flogged. A whipping with the prison strap for each of the five girls concerned, perhaps – overlaid with a birching for the chief conspirator? Indeed, it sounds just like the sort of dark scene that HH and I would devise to play with willing victims.

And the good news (for those who – like me – are squicked by the idea that something like that might actually happen for real)  is that “what happened next” in this case was that the girls’ complaints were found to be justified and the director was dismissed from his post. So, who’s up for re-creating a riot in a correction home?!