A Saudi court condemned a Lebanese man to one year in prison and 200 lashes for practicing tattooing, Gulf News reported on Wednesday quoting a Saudi newspaper as saying.

Tattoos are not officially banned in Islam but are generally considered as a sin because it involves changing the creation of God.

“Investigations revealed the Lebanese had been practicing this job for nine years on a business visa,” the report said.

The tattoo artist was arrested during an undercover operation by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice also known as the religious police.

The man, whose name has not been released, only made tattoos on women. He used to received them in a rented in the western city of Jeddah before starting to go to their house to reduce risks of being caught by Saudi authorities.

Prosecutors vowed to appeal for a stronger punishment against the defendant “who is also accused of having met privately with women in the state where mixing of the sexes is prohibited.”