In Saudi Arabia, divorce at first sight

A Saudi groom called off his marriage on his wedding night, demanding a divorce as soon as he first saw his bride’s face, a local Saudi daily reported.

The couple, who were married in Medina, had never met before the wedding. After the ceremony, when the bride’s veil was lifted for them to pose for wedding photographs, the groom saw her face for the first time and declared, “You are not the girl I want to marry. You are not the one I had imagined. I am sorry, but I divorce you,” the Okaz daily reported on Sunday.

The bride collapsed in tears, according to the report, which did not name the couple.

The groom’s behavior has attracted a welter of social media criticism.

Gulf News quoted one comment, from Afra, saying, “He caused her great pain through his irresponsible attitude, and he deserves to suffer… He should appreciate that beauty is in the character, not the face. Unfortunately, many young people today are interested only in looks and ignore values and morals. May God give her a better husband who will appreciate her for who and what she is.”

“He is not man enough to assume his responsibilities,” echoed another critic, Abu Nass. “He is totally, completely insensitive. Nobody has forced him to marry her. He should have insisted on seeing her before the wedding and the engagement, and not wait until the wedding night. May he always be a loser and may he be deprived of getting married at all.”

The newspaper report noted that even in the most traditional Saudi families, the putative bride and groom in an arranged marriage generally at least “exchange looks.”