JEDDAH: Cases of clashes between spouses such as accusations of adultery recorded a 70 percent drop in Saudi courts during the last Hijri year as against the year before. However, divorce cases increased by 35 percent. 

The first type of these cases, cursing between spouses, is different from the second as the first is with the consent of the spouses and with their knowledge; in the second type spouses could be separated without their consent.

According to recent statistics by the Ministry of Justice cursing cases amounted to 77, with Riyadh on top of the list with 25 cases followed by Makkah with 33, Eastern Province 12, Madinah 6 and Qasim only one case. In 1434 the courts recorded 259 such cases.

Separation of spouses’ cases recorded by courts in 1434 amounted to 35 cases against 54 cases in 1435.  Riyadh topped the list with 20 cases, followed by Eastern Province with 16, Makkah 12, Madinah and Qasim with three each.

Lawyer Mohammad Al-Jashi explained the term “cursing cases” saying that the case emerges when a husband accuses his wife of adultery, which in this case Shariah says that four persons must witness the accusation.

“Separation of spouses in the legal meaning involves ending the marital status between spouses with a court order, either on the request of one or any other party. Such separation cases happen in certain conditions such as when one of the spouses is accused of apostasy, or in the event of loss of the spouse or any other reason in this context,” explained the lawyer.