Husband divorces wife hours after wedding

A Saudi bride was divorced shortly after the marriage ceremony when she ignored her groom and kept chatting with her friends on her mobile.

“Following the marriage ceremony, the groom took his bride to the hotel where they had booked a room,” a relative said.

“However, as soon as the bride was in the room, she kept using her mobile. Her groom tried to get closer with her and become more intimate, but he was shocked when she ignored him, not responding to his words and action. When he asked her about the reasons, she answered she was busy communicating with her friends who were congratulating her on her marriage on the mobile.

The groom asked her to delay the messages, but she refused and became angry. When he asked her if her friends were more important than he was, the bride answered that they were,” the relative said, quoted by Saudi daily Al Watan on Tuesday.

As the argument between them became unexpectedly heated, the groom told his bride he was divorcing her and left the hotel.

The relative said that a divorce case was filed and the court referred it to the reconciliation committee to assess if the newly-weds could be reconciled, the relative added.

However, the groom, too hurt in his pride to forgive, refused to withdraw the case and insisted on the divorce.

A Saudi legal expert warned against the alarmingly growing figures of divorce among newly-weds, saying that they reached around 50 per cent.

“Misunderstandings, differences in views and the easy approach to marriage without a deep appreciation of the responsibilities are among the major causes for divorce among young people,” Ahmad Al Maabi told the daily.

“Marriages are bound to fail when there are no robust foundations or trust.”