JEDDAH, 19 April 2003 — Saudi Arabia has its share of greedy men who turn their brides’ marital dreams into nightmares, Al-Madinah reported. For the sake of a few riyals, these men are prepared to make the life of another person a living hell.
M. Hamzah, a 25-year-old woman, told the paper her trouble began when a man four years her senior asked to marry her. “When I saw him I felt that there was something wrong, but my family convinced me to marry him and I had to accept. He came with his mother and relatives since his father had died some time ago. He offered SR20,000 in dowry saying it was all he had since he had only started working recently. We accepted because of his religious nature and character. After we were engaged, he came to see me nearly every day, and at least for a month he seemed a nice person.
”But after a while his behavior started to change. He began to insult my mother and curse me. We couldn’t take it anymore. I told my family I wanted a divorce, but he wouldn’t agree. So we went to court, and he agreed to divorce me if I paid him SR40,000, double the sum he paid me. My uncle paid him the entire sum just so he would leave us alone.
“We later found out that he had cheated 15 other girls in a similar fashion. The moment he gets engaged his demand for money starts. For him, it is a business for quick profit.”
Ro’aa M. told the newspaper a man who appeared to be of good character asked to marry her. “He paid SR25,000 in dowry. I was very happy because he was handsome and had a nice smile.
“In the three months that we were engaged, we used to go out together to pick the furniture for our new house, and he turned into a monster. He beat me and slapped me and called me all sorts of names. He cursed my family every time he saw them. My father tried to work things out but he persisted with his behavior. I asked for a divorce but he refused unless we paid him SR50,000.
“My father had to borrow money so this man would give back my freedom. It was nothing but a business for the man, and he had done the same thing to many other girls.”
Muhammad Al-Harbi is the father of a victim. “A man came and asked for my daughter’s hand in marriage, and he paid SR15,000 up front. We had an engagement ceremony which was very nice. But after a while he started giving us trouble, and we found out he’d done the same thing to 10 other families.
“He made a profit every time. The courts should put the names of these criminals into a computer and bar them from marrying again. And they should lock them up for the harm they do to innocent girls.”
