RIYADH — Saudi courts handled an average of 17 khula divorce cases a week in the past six months, Alsharq daily reported Wednesday. Khula is when a woman secures divorce from her husband in exchange for the dowry he paid her and forfeiting her alimony rights. About half of the khula cases were in Jeddah and Riyadh courts. Jeddah courts reviewed 124 cases while and courts in Riyadh looked into 68 cases. Qurayyat and Al-Jouf courts reviewed 59 cases each, Ahsa courts reviewed 29 while Dammam and Taif courts reviewed 18 cases each. The head of the family development center, Dr. Khalid Al-Helaibi, said women should petition for khula only when they believe that continuing their lives with their husbands is impossible. He explained that according to the cases he dealt with, most of khula cases occur either at the beginning of the marital life or after 20 years of marriage. He pointed out that couples come from different backgrounds and may find it difficult to live with each other, especially with women who believe that they will not find harmony with their newlywed husbands. The husband who had spent a large amount of money on wedding expenses, in turn, refuses to divorce his newlywed wife, which then forces the wife to ask for khula. Al-Helaibi advised newlywed women that reaching harmony with their husbands may take up to a year at least and they should not behave irrationally during that period to allow time for the marriage to succeed. He asked all newlyweds to enroll in family training programs and, if needed, they should seek the assistance of trusted relatives to deal with any problems they may face. He pointed out that wives who ask for divorce after 20 years of marriage have had enough of their husbands and petition for khula to put an end to their miserable married lives. "I am certain that most khula cases can be avoided if specialists interfere to find a solution and reconcile the couples," he said. Sorcery cases Courts in the country have dealt with 656 sorcery cases during the past 30 months, Makkah daily reported. Ministry of Justice spokesman Ibrahim Al-Tayyar said 251 cases were reviewed two years ago, another 264 cases were reviewed last year and 141 cases were reviewed during the first half of this year, which represents a 5 percent increase in cases. Spokesman of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) Turki Al-Shelail said most cases were against expatriates and many cases include accusations of embezzlement and exploitation. Lawyer Naser Al-Zeghaibi said penalties against sorcerers are usually lashes, in addition to a prison sentence.
