Tag

Court

Browsing

Saudi Arabia kingdom requires women to seek permission from male “guardians” — their fathers, husbands or other male relatives — to travel, get married and other tasks.

In some parts of the kingdom, a man who plays a musical instrument is considered of inferior status and having a bad reputation.

Two years ago the suitor, a teacher, asked for the hand of the woman, a 38-year-old bank manager from the ultra-conservative region of Qassim, north of the capital Riyadh, Okaz newspaper said.

But her family objected, saying he was not “religiously compatible” with her because he played the oud, the oriental lute which is popular across the Arab world.

The woman, who was not named, took her case to the courts.

A lower court weighed in on the side of the family, saying the marriage could not go through.

“Because the suitor plays a musical instrument he is unsuitable for the woman from a religious point of view,” the court said, according to Okaz.

An appeals court ratified the verdict, making it final, the newspaper added.

The woman told Okaz she will seek intervention from the country’s “highest authorities” — a reference to the royal court.

The bank manager, who holds a masters degree and is responsible for more than 300 employees, said she was determined to marry her suitor, describing him as “very pious and with a good reputation”.

Source: pulse.ng

A 39-year-old petty trader, Yemisi, on Friday pleaded with an Agege Customary Court in Lagos to end her 20-year-old loveless marriage to free herself from the pangs of daily corporal punishment meted out to her by her husband.

“My husband constantly beats me and whenever he wants to do so, he tells me to kneel down and stretch my hands like a pupil before caning me. He often threatened to kill me,” she told the court.

Testifying before Phillips Williams, the court’s President, she said there was no love lost between them again.

Yemisi described her husband of 20 years as an irresponsible man, who has refused to take proper care of her and their children.

She said she had been solely responsible for the feeding and upkeep of their children since her husband lost his job.

“I made effort to secure a loan for my husband from a cooperative bank to start a small business with a promise by him to pay back in installments.

But after a few months, he refused to pay and attempt to get him to refund the money was unsuccessful.

My husband started threatening to kill me and dispose of my corpse without anybody knowing.

I am fed up with the marriage; there is no love between us again. I can no longer bear the pains and humiliations,” she said.

She, therefore, urged the court to dissolve the marriage and to compel the respondent to be responsible for the welfare and education of the children.

The respondent, Wasiu, 49, however, denied the allegations and pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage.

According to him, his wife started misbehaving and became promiscuous the moment he lost his job.

Wasiu, who claimed to have caught her in the act of adultery, said:

My wife later told me that she was fed up with the union and she moved out of the house with the children sometime in 2015.

However, after much pleading, she returned home later in 2016 only to start engaging in adultery; I have caught her on several occasions.

My wife stopped cooking for me since July 2016 and finally moved out of the house.

The respondent said he made efforts and begged his wife to return, especially for the sake of their children, but she remained adamant.

The president of the court invited the estranged couple to his chambers for a possible resolution of the crisis.

He adjourned the case to April 11 for further hearing.