Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Wife seeks legal refuge after divorce threat
The Saudi Human Rights Society in the Eastern Province has advised a Canadian woman, who is under divorce threat from her Saudi husband, to approach any of the kingdom's courts.
- By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
- Published: 00:53 March 6, 2008
Riyadh: The Saudi Human Rights Society in the Eastern Province has advised a Canadian woman, who is under divorce threat from her Saudi husband, to approach any of the kingdom's courts.
"The Shariah rules that govern the judicial system in the kingdom will, no doubt, bring justice to her and find out ways to [bring] up their two children," a society official told her, a member of the society told Gulf News.
The Canadian woman, who declined to reveal her identity, arrived in the kingdom recently from Canada with her husband and two children, aged one year and five years.
"My marriage is on the brink of a break down. All the problems with my husband and his family began after [I came over] to the kingdom. He wants to get rid of me under the pressure from his family members," she alleged.
The woman, with bruises of beatings on her forearm, accused her husband and his family members of subjecting her to harassment and torture.
Speaking to Al Riyadh Arabic daily newspaper recently, the husband said he is ready to accept the main demand of the estranged wife to allow her to remain in the kingdom together with their two children.
But later he changed his stance saying "I can't afford to rent out a house for her and the children. I draw a meagre salary of SR2,800 [about Dh 2,745] and ... can't help her", he said.
Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Saif, supervisor of the Human Rights Society in the Eastern Province, met the Canadian woman and her husband, who turned up late, at the society office in Dammam last week.
Suicide attempt
After listening to the grievances of each side, the society officials tried their best to broker a compromise but their efforts were in vain. The officials expressed their anxiety over the possibility of the woman committing suicide. "She attempted to commit suicide a few days before our meeting with her," a member said.
"I am not in a position to either meet the expense to travel home or rent a new house for me and the children," she said, now that her husband has decided to divorce her.
canada
Beheading 'disappointing'
Ottawa on Tuesday said it was "profoundly disappointed" by Saudi Arabia's sentencing of a Canadian to death by beheading after he was found guilty of a schoolyard murder.
"We are profoundly disappointed" with the verdict handed down by Saudi authorities, said Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier.
- AFP
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