Woman rains blows on husband in court

Ras Al Khaimah: A woman enraged at her husband's refusal to divorce her launched a furious physical assault on him in a court here.

The court house witnessed pandemonium as the Emirati woman started raining blows on her husband even as people gathered around and tried in vain to pull her away.

Several court guards were forced to intervene and eventually managed to separate the irate woman from her husband, whose clothes were in tatters by that time.

The man at the receiving end was slightly injured and was provided clothes to cover himself. His entreaties to his wife to calm down didn't seem to have the desired impact.

A senior court official said that the husband immediately approached the emirate's Public Prosecution on the second floor of the court house and lodged a complaint against his wife and tens of onlookers reportedly volunteered to testify about the incident.

The emirate's Public Prosecution ordered the emirate's police to summon the woman and to question her and later to refer her to the emirate's Public Prosecutor for further questioning and framing of charges.

The court official said the couple had a record of ongoing problems and marital disputes and that the woman had earlier lodged a complaint against her husband accusing him of failing to provide for her.

The woman however agreed for a compromise given that she was granted divorce in return for withdrawing her case.

The emirate's Civil Court had summoned the husband several times to discuss ways of resolving the dispute but he had never showed up in court.

It was in such circumstances that the judge announced that the woman's request for divorce would be recognised if she withdrew her earlier petition but the compromise still needed the husband to show up at the court.

The husband finally showed up in court yesterday. However, before entering the court, he told his wife to her face that he was not ready to grant her divorce. He also tried to remind her of how she had looked after him while he had been on a trip to Germany to seek medical attention.

This conversation provoked the woman who threw him to the floor and started raining blows on him hysterically.

The court official said the scene created by the woman in the court house was not acceptable, especially since she had given full vent to insults and had manhandled court staff and members of the public at the scene.

It took close to an hour for the court to resume routine work.