Manama: A Saudi woman’s idealised notion of romantic love has cost her marriage after her husband divorced her in a fit of anger.
The couple were together at King Khalid Airport in the capital Riyadh when the wife sought to highlight her version of romantic love, either by holding his hand or telling him romantic words.
However, the husband was not receptive to her endeavours and kept telling her to leave him alone, local news site Mouwaten reported, quoting Abdul Aziz Al Zair, a religious scholar familiar with the incident.
“He repeated his words to leave him alone before he became exasperated and decided to divorce her,” Al Zair said as he was talking about marital problems on a television programme.
“The divorced wife went back to her family outside Riyadh and the former husband is now suffering under the painful feeling of guilt and remorse for his destructive attitudes,” he said.
Online users promptly expressed their anger with the man and condemned his behaviour.
“This is an individual without the minimum of common sense,” Waheeba, a blogger posted. “We simply cannot understand you men. If the woman is romantic you divorce her, and if she is not, you are not happy with her and take a second wife.”
Mona, another blogger, said that even if the woman made a mistake in the eyes of her husband, the divorce was not an option to be contemplated.
“Unfortunately, many men misunderstand the concept of romantic love,” she said.
For Al Taweel, a blogger, the husband has no appreciation whatsoever of the value and significance of life.
“Unfortunately, we Saudi men have turned our rapports with our wives in public into an unforgivable crime,” Ahmad said.
Another blogger under the moniker of “I Want a Solution”, described the husband as a “lacking in senses and in logical behaviour” and said that the Saudi society needed to accept the public display of affection.
