Cairo: A Saudi woman, jilted by her husband for around 23 years, has been awarded divorce, a local newspaper has said.
The ruling was awarded by a personal status court in the Saudi port city of Jeddah in response to a lawsuit from the woman who said her husband had deserted her for many years after they had four children from their marriage, Okaz reported.
The woman, whose age was not disclosed, also accused the man of abusing and neglecting her so long that she suffered from psychological and social damage, requesting their marriage contract be annulled without her paying compensation to him.
In his turn, the man accused the woman of leaving the marital house and spurning his repeated attempts to patch up things with her.
Initially, the court referred the case to a reconciliation committee in an attempt to heal the rift between them and put their marriage back on track. However, the woman insisted on divorce. In response, the man said he is willing to divorce her provided she returns to him SR20,000 in dowry in addition to SR20,000 worth of furniture costs.
The court rejected the husband’s argument, pointing out that if a man harms his wife and causes her to disobey and seek divorce from him, then he has treated her unfairly and accordingly has no right to claim back the dowry.
