Monday, April 1, 2002
Dubai court says it’s OK to beat wife
A story released today by the Associated Press reports that an appeals court in United Arab Emirates has ruled that a husband has the right to beat his wife in order to discipline her, provided that the beatings are not so severe that they damage her bones or deform her body.
But the Dubai Court of Cassation, the highest court in the emirate, also ruled that a wife has the right to demand a divorce if her husband "injures her, either by word or action".
The court's decision came in a case where a woman had petitioned for a divorce on grounds that her husband beat her with an electric cable or a stick, and slammed her head against the wall.
The court ordered the husband to pay 5,000 dirhams claimed by the wife as the remainder of her dowry, as well as a monthly alimony of 2,000 dirhams.
It also granted her custody of the couple's two children.
