The Appeals Court upheld Monday a sentence of two years' prison and 300 lashes of the whip for a married woman who engaged in “misyar” marriages in order to cheat prospective husbands out of dowry money. A male defendant - who posed as her brother in arranging the marriages- also had his sentence of one year's prison and 150 lashes upheld. The woman, who is legally married, pretended to be single in order to enter into misyar unions in which couples live apart and the male is relieved of the responsibility of providing a home, and would disappear with the dowry money once marriage procedures had been concluded. The court ordered that the convicted woman, who pleaded guilty to the charges against her, return the money she had gained to the victims of her ruse, the number of which was not specified by the court. Some individuals reportedly took legal action while others waived part of the dowry money. The case was first brought to the attention of police by the woman's legal husband, described as a Saudi in his seventies, who suspected that she was involved in relationships and possible misyar marriage with other men. The Appeals Court rulings upholding the District Court sentences are now final.
