Manama: Saudi authorities will next week start implementing a new law that would compel husbands to give between 5,000 and 50,000 Saudi riyals to their wives if they beat them.
The compensation is, however, dropped in case the beating results in wife’s disability or death to allow the punishment to be carried out as legally prescribed.
“The new regulation has been put forward by people from the legal field to ensure the highest standards, said Mohammad Al Harbi, general director of protection at the social affairs ministry.
“The ministry did not put the regulations and it was done by legal experts and the human rights commission,” he said, quoted by local news site Sabq.
Punishment will not be limited to financial compensation, he added.
“It also includes a jail term between one month and one year, and in case there is a repeat, the punishment is doubled. The purpose is to protect women from being harmed.”
He added that the ministry held a series of workshops for three months throughout Saudi Arabia.
“We had the participation of all people interested in human rights and we commissioned a consultancy bureau to prepare them so that no one can claim that the ministry is behind everything,” he said.
Commenting on the issue several Saudis welcomed the decision and insisted it would help promote family stability.
“It will make husbands think twice before they lift their hands,” one commenter said.
Some even went further by calling for tougher punitive action.
Writing under the moniker Rourou, another commenter, said “the punishment should be financial compensation and she beats him back.”
“After paying the money and receiving a severe beating, he should be sent to prison as well,” she said.
However, others said that men should also be protected from aggressive wives and should be given compensation in case of physical assaults on them.
Those who oppose giving women new rights said that they were shocked by the “cascade of new laws and regulations in favour of women.”
“This decision will increase the number of divorce cases, particularly with husbands who cannot manage their anger,” Sa’ad, a commenter, said. “They will not be able to pay so much money, so they will opt for divorce as a way out,” he said.
