Judge grants divorce to beaten Saudi wife

[emad]

The Telegraph
By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor
(Filed: 05/01/2005)

A Saudi woman television presenter who became a cause célèbre after being beaten by her husband last year has been granted a divorce by a judge, Saudi newspapers reported yesterday.

Rania al-Baz broke the taboo on domestic violence in the kingdom when she allowed her injuries to be photographed.

She suffered 13 facial fractures when her husband, Muhammad al-Fallatta, hit her head repeatedly against a marble floor before dumping her at a hospital.

"The judge ordered him to divorce me," Miss Baz told the Arab News daily. However, the judge also said she had to forfeit her dowry of roughly £5,000.
More:
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[emad]

1. Forfeit her dowry and:

"I agreed to do so and then had the audacity to ask for custody of our children, claiming that I was an unfit mother. The judge refused to listen to him," said Miss Baz.

[bushisanidiot]

2. Not sure what a dowry is, but she should SUE his ass for pain and

suffering!!

[AndyTiedye]

3. If She Wasn't On Television, Nobody Would Have Heard About This

If she wasn't a TV personality, there would have been no press coverage
and no trial, and her husband would still be beating her.

[Igel]

4. I was hopeful.

That last line: "The judge ordered him to divorce me." Much simpler than just letting her divorce him. Ah, the old "the laws apply equally ... but different laws apply" paradigm.

Prediction: If she goes out of the house very often, she's dead within a year.