Woman rescued from Saudi husband after 3 years

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Police rescued a woman from false imprisonment who they say has been locked by her husband in an abandoned house for three years, the daily Al-Watan reported.

The woman was found with an eight-month-old child. Police were tipped off by a passerby who heard the woman screaming for help inside the house.

The woman was identified only as a foreign legal resident. She reportedly told her rescuers that she has been married under a no-obligation marriage (misyar) to the son of her sponsor.

Jeddah police told the daily the man was arrested. The name of the culprit was not disclosed. The case has been transferred for further investigation.

The woman was taken to Jeddah’s King Fahd Hospital where she was examined. The report said the woman had signs of physical abuse.

Omar Al-Khuli, an official at an unnamed family shelter, said the woman must prove her relationship to the man.

For the child to be considered a Saudi citizen (eligible for social benefits and education), the woman must now file a lawsuit to get the man who allegedly imprisoned her to place the child on his family ID card.

Doing so would also allow the man to claim custody of the child. The woman can be deported when her iqama expires unless her sponsor or the courts intervene.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&sect...tegory=Kingdom

I sure hope the Saudi courts intervene and she does not lose custody but from what I've seen of Saudi rule, I may sprout a second head before that happens.

(A misyar) is the Sunni Muslim contract carried out via the normal contractual procedure, with the specificity that the wife gives up several of her rights by her own free will, such as living with the husband, equal division of nights between wives in cases of polygamy, rights to housing, and maintenance money ("nafaqa").

The couple continue to live separately from each other, as before their contract, and see each other to fulfil their needs in a halaal manner when they please.
...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misyar_marriage

Culture shock.

[Valasca]

Ugh.
This mysyar marraige is very convenient for the man.

[HijabiGirl]

I've never heard of a misyar contract until reading this article. Basically she is giving up her right to live in the same house as her husband and split stuff with the other wives. Frankly I don't understand why this woman would even agree to sign this contract. The only thing I can think is she wanted her child to have Saudi citizenship due to the large amount of benefits that come with it. (free medical care, education even to college, etc)

I hope they lash the "husband" for doing this to his wife.