Saudi court awards divorce to missing man’s wife

Cairo: A Saudi court has awarded a divorce ruling to a wife whose spouse went missing six years ago. The woman had filed for divorce at the personal affairs court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, saying her husband left the house six years ago for shopping and has not returned. He has left her along with five children.

In her lawsuit, the woman said she had lost hope that her husband would return and she was concerned by her current situation, the Saudi newspaper Okaz reported.

She submitted evidence that her husband was missing, and backed up her suit with a police report stating that the husband had disappeared in a neighborhood in the Saudi port city of Jeddah while he was out for shopping, and he was not found.

The woman also brought to the court two witnesses from the husband’s family, who testified that the man had been missing and that his whereabouts were unknown for years. The witnesses, moreover, testified that she has been living alone since her husband’s disappearance with no support or marital house, and that she has been harmed by his absence.

In response, the court decided to annul the woman’s marriage contract. The appeals court later upheld the ruling.

In its decision, the court requested all government institutions to work to implement the verdict by all legal means. The ruling went into effect and the woman received a week ago a document annulling her marriage, according to the report.