The Ministry of Justice reported that there were 62 cases of home wrecking in the past eight months, Al-Madina newspaper reported. A source from the ministry said the cases were affecting both genders in a marriage. "The courts in the Kingdom dealt with a total of 62 cases, in which men and women were seduced by third parties to marry them after dumping their current spouses. Most of the cases were in Riyadh," said the source. The source said Riyadh had 22 cases while Najran and Jazan had one case each. "Makkah reported 17 cases while Qassim had seven cases. Eastern Province, Asir, Madinah, Tabuk, Hail, Baha and Jouf had two cases each. Lawyer Abdullah Al-Jiraish said home wrecking is defined as meddling with the affairs of a married couple with a malicious intent. "The homewrecker could have the intention of breaking a marriage to marry one of the spouses or may not have that intention. In both cases, the action is home wrecking. If the homewrecker intends to marry one of the spouses, then the marriage is religiously invalid," said Al-Jiraish. He said there are many divorce cases as a result of home wrecking. "Home wrecking can be by enticing a woman out of her marriage by offering money or other incentives. The Saudi law has not set out punishment for home wrecking but it is recognized as a crime in Shariah law," said the Al-Jiraish. He said in such cases punishment is left for the judge to decide and it could include lashing and imprisonment. The punishment is more severe if the couple actually got a divorce and separated as a result of home wrecking.
