“The court at Al-Jumoum outside Makkah city set five hearings in my case, but each time I went the judge refused to see me or listen to my case because I had no male guardian with me,” said the woman, Um Hasan.
She and her estranged husband have been married for 17 years during which time they have had six children.
Um Hasan said her life has been like hell because of her husband’s drug addiction.
“My married life changed from a loving one to one in which physical and verbal abuse became the norm. I was left with no option but to leave my husband and run away with my six children,” she said.
She added that all her attempts to obtain a divorce have failed because of the judge’s refusal to listen to her. “I have medical certificates from Makkah’s King Abdulaziz Hospital proving I have been physically abused but the judge has refused to even look at them because I had no male guardian with me,” she said.
Um Hasan’s brothers refuse to accompany her in court, as her husband has threatened to hurt anyone who helps her. “My brothers have taken his threats seriously because he is a drug addict and will not hesitate to harm them,” she said.
Um Hasan appealed to the authorities for help to secure a divorce and save herself and her children from her husband who she said, being a drug addict, is ruthless and prepared to carry out extreme acts of crime.
Muhammad Al-Suhali, a professor of Shariah at the Um Al-Qura University in Makkah, said if the woman is saying truth the judge is doing something wrong. “Judges are there to see justice being done. They should help victims and not the assailants,” he added.
He advised the woman to take her case to the highest authorities and to human rights organizations. “Human rights organizations will first verify the woman’s claim and, if it turns out to be true, they will try to reconcile her with her husband and try to get them to end their problems peacefully. If these efforts fail they will take the matter to the governorate, which will not allow any type of injustice,” he said.
