A pair of Islamist politicians who have advocated for chastity were caught having sex on a Moroccan beach, officials said.
The lovefest between Moulay Omar Benhammad, 63, and Fatima Nejjar, 62, landed them in hot water with their Islamic Unity and Reform Movement (MUR), which is the ideological wing of the Islamic Justice and Development Party, AFP reported.
The man and woman — both vice presidents of MUR — have been “suspended from all structures of the movement,” the party said following an emergency leadership meeting.
The incident happened Saturday on a beach in Mohammedia, about 16 miles north of Casablanca and 40 miles south of the capital, Rabat.
The lovebirds were allegedly found in a “sexual position” inside their car, police said.
Benhammad, a married father of seven, was charged with attempted corruption. Nejjar, a widow and mother of six, was booked for complicity to adultery.
Extramarital sex is punishable by up to a year behind bars in Morocco. Party officials said the pair’s actions violated MUR’s values.
Benhammad has reportedly said he lives with Najjar in a common-law marriage and that his wife does not want him prosecuted for adultery.
Benhammad and Nejjar claim they’re being set up in a political smear ahead of legislative elections in October.
Previously, Nejjar has been photographed in a full Islamic headdress and urging female students in social media not to give in to “temptation and vice.”