MAKKAH: Faryal King is one of the few Saudi women legal practitioners in Saudi Arabia. With over 20 years of experience, King ironically made her debut as a legal expert when she represented herself in her own divorce case in 1990.

Driven by confidence and fueled by the injustice women suffer because of general ignorance of the law, King braved into the world of law championing the cause of the weak, even if they are men.

A good part of her spare time has been devoted to social work, mostly in helping women and children. “A major chunk of cases pending in Saudi courts are divorce suits involving the ill-treatment and irresponsible conduct of husbands,” King told Arab News.

King said she often works for free when her clients cannot afford to pay her. Reminiscing the early days of her career some 18 years ago, she said, “The first brief I took up after my divorce was the complaint of a 35-year-old woman whose husband left her 20 years earlier when she was just into her pregnancy. He, however, had not divorced her. On top of that, the husband declared that he had nothing to do with the pregnancy. By the time she filed her case, her son was 20 and in a legal limbo, as the father refused to acknowledge him as his son.”

She described how, despite her lack of experience, she tackled the husband who was under the impression that he could dictate the terms of divorce and also make some money.

Although the court twice postponed the hearing because of the husband’s refusal to attend, he told the court in the third sitting that he was willing to divorce if the woman would pay him SR40,000.

“In my reply to his demand, I drew the judge’s attention to the fact that my client wanted a divorce because the husband had not fulfilled his duties toward her, such as feeding and housing her and their son. I added that she would pay the money but before that the husband should fulfill his financial obligations toward his wife and son for the last 20 years,” she said.

“The judge became convinced of my demand. Realizing the gravity of the legal pitfall he had fallen into, the husband asked for a settlement and agreed to divorce the woman instantly and do everything necessary in officially recognizing his son,” she said.

The most bizarre case King has ever dealt with was that of a woman whose husband divorced her without her knowledge but continued to have sexual relations with her. About the time of the divorce he had sent her and his three children to her parental home and used to occasionally visit her. The woman also had a baby with the man after they were legally divorced. The man had also secretly removed his wife’s name from his family identity card and later managed to take away all of their children from her except the youngest.

Since the man failed to give the woman any money for her expenses, she sought King’s help to file a lawsuit. “It was only when the man heard about her demands for a divorce that he informed her he had already divorced her,” she said.

“The youngest son had been staying with her until six months ago. The man also took him into his custody. Once, when the woman wanted to see her children, the husband asked her to visit him at his house. But when she went there he hit her, causing a scar,” she added.

King said she comforted the woman saying she had every right to make him pay for upkeep and get a fair divorce. “I devised a strategy according to which she asked the court to punish her husband for committing adultery with her ... The man was terrified at the prospect of being charged with adultery. He was in a catch-22 situation. If he argued that he had divorced her six years ago, he would have to admit that he deliberately committed adultery later. If he argued that he had not divorced her then he would have to pay for upkeep. He finally agreed to comply with my client’s demands,” she said.

King is also adept at handling criminal cases. She is currently working on a burglary case involving the disappearance of six kilograms of gold from a jewelry factory in Jeddah 18 months ago. Police have not so far been able to find the culprit. She said that there is some mystery surrounding the incident, which she is striving to unravel.

“I found that the officer in charge of the investigation had been transferred to another city and the case file containing findings of the investigation was missing. All expatriate workers interrogated following the theft have been deported to their respective countries without even the knowledge of their sponsor, who owns the factory,” she said.

King is confident of catching the culprits, and said the clue lies in discovering the person who deported the workers.

As a social worker, King recently settled a complicated case involving a youth who impregnated his younger sister. King was approached by the youth’s mother and helped her resolve the case and marry the girl off to another youth.

Another sensitive issue she recently handled is that of a mother who complained that her brother in law had attempted to rape her two daughters. “Their father refused to believe that his brother would commit such an act. We were, however, able to discuss the issue with the concerned parties and settle the matter amicably,” she said.