More women 'giving up their rights in divorces'

Ras Al Khaimah: Sixteen women of different nationalities are insisting on 'khole' or a divorce giving up all their rights.

The Domestic Reconciliation Section at the emirate's Courts has already lost hope of changing the minds of these women and will refer the cases to the court.

Several women have applied for 'khole' since the beginning of this year, but the section managed to settle the disputes, and the couples agreed to go on with their marriages.

Jasem Al Makki, who heads the section, said the 16 women have been insisting on separation from their husbands and ready to give up whatever it takes to reach that goal.

He added that 90 other women have also been insisting on gaining divorce and that the section has been trying with them. But so far they officials have made no headway in settling the issues.

Al Makki said on a normal divorce the woman gets back her dowry and other dues, and has rights, but with 'khole' the woman gives up all those rights and in some cases they even pay compensation for their husbands.

He said this year till the end of September, 488 divorce applications were filed. Al Makki said economic reason was one of the fundamental causes for separation, and that such incidences have gone up dramatically.

The problem was also compounded by the rising cost of living, he said adding that demand for more money burdened the men.

He said 99 divorce applications have been filed by women who claim that their husbands spent most of the time away from their homes and failed to pay attention to their families.

Expensive

He said divorces have become as expensive as marriage.

Al Makki said in many divorce cases, the money the husband paid was almost equal or even more than the expenses of the marriage.

Recently the court granted a divorces in which the husband was ordered to pay Dh48,400, he said adding that the couple spent the same amount when they got married a few years ago.