CAIRO (Al Said Zayed, Alarabiya.net)
An Egyptian woman filed for divorce at the Family Court because her husband hasn't showered since they got married—two months ago.
Yara Saad Al-Din, 23, met Aysar Ali, a 31-year-old engineer, on a plane. A week later, he proposed, and the two were married.
According to the divorce papers, Ali told his wife he had not showered for two months because of a skin disease that made him allergic to water. The wife then consulted his doctor, who confirmed the husband's claim, but assured her his disease has nothing to do with water.
When Ali refused to grant Al-Din a divorce, she said she filed for khol'a – an Islamic arrangement which grants women a divorce if they renounce their financial rights.
The number of khol'a cases has been rising steadily in Egypt, with some 12,000 khol'a cases registered in courts every year.
AlArabiya.net conducted an investigation to find the strangest and most unusual reasons for divorce.
Salwa Abdullah, a civil servant, divorced her husband for his bad breath from eating too much onion and garlic and because he didn't wash his feet, which made her repel from sex and refuse to sleep on the same bed.
In the coastal city of Port Said, Nawal Abul-Aal, an engineer, filed for divorce because her veterinarian husband insisted on keeping cats and dogs in the house.
In Upper Egypt, housewife Atteyat Al-Sayed asked for a divorce after her husband refused to let her go to her father's funeral.
Hanaa Al-Abd, also from Upper Egypt, sought divorce because her husband worked as a sorcerer, taking money for preparing spells that were meant to help girls marry, bring people back from abroad, and solve marital problems. Al-Abd asked the husband to give up this fraudulent business, and when he refused, she filed for divorce.
Although women get no financial support in khol'a divorces, many use it as a means to get out of miserable marriages.
Before the law was passed in 2000, a woman had to present strong evidence against her husband in order to divorce, such as physical abuse or adultery.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
