Dubai: The Jeddah civil court ordered a Saudi man to divorce his wife and give her full rights, including custody of her children, following the divorce, forabusing her for several years.
The court also issued an online warrant against the man who failed to appear before the court session, local media reported.
The warrant was issued against the abusive husband because he failed to comply with the court’s order to attend the hearings in person despite being informed electronically. The court finally issued the judgment annulling the marriage and granted the woman full custody of her five children.
Earlier, the Arab wife, who suffered years of abuse, filed a case against her husband requesting the civil court to grant her divorce claiming he used to abuse and beat her.
The court issued the ruling after it found the abusive husband was convicted more than once in many crimes, including possessing, using and selling drugs and that the woman was a victim of his torture and domestic abuse.
Umm Saad, the Arab wife, has five children with the accused. In an interview with a local newspaper, she said: “When I married him I was not aware of his criminal record, especially given that he was working in the field of children’s education.”
Death threat
Umm Saad said that her husband never treated her well and used to abuse her verbally and physically .
“He threatened to kill me, locked me inside the house, and took away my phone so that I could not call my family,” she said. The woman filed several complaints with the police station and a shelter home for abused woman in Jeddah seeking protection from him.
“I was ready to withdraw my complaints against him after the intervention of his father and because of fear for my children,” Umm Saad said.
“The court examined medical reports proving the victim’s exposure to domestic violence and physical abuse. The court also received a report from the Criminal Evidence Department indicating that the husband was awarded jail terms for consuming and possessing cannabis, including a 15-month jail term for possessing hashish, but was later pardoned.
The court also received a letter from the Narcotics Control Department stating that there were three cases lodged against the defendant related to trafficking of illegal narcotics pills.
The shelter home also reported that it received the wife’s complaint.
The woman pleaded the court to bring her former husband to court and oblige him to fulfil in writing all the terms and conditions related to the divorce and the custody of children.
Accordingly, the court ruled to bring the man by force in front of the court to complete legal procedures and issued the online warrant.
