Woman pays back BD8000 dowry to obtain divorce

Manama : A divorce seeking Bahraini woman has returned a BD8000 dowry to her estranged husband in order to free herself from their marriage. The high Shariat Court in its ruling asked her to refund the dowry paid on her during a hearing into the case filed by them.

According to court files, the woman and her husband filed for divorce citing “unresolvable problems” which made their marriage “unbearable”. The husband, however, told the court that he wants a refund of the dowry paid at the time of marriage to accept the divorce. The demand, at first, was rejected by the woman, who offered to pay only BD100 to end the marriage knot.

The High Shariat Court, however, ruled in favour of the husband and asked the woman to pay back the dowry in full viewing that she couldn’t prove the “damage inflicted on her”, according to the husband’s lawyer Seham Sulaibeekh. The lawyer also claimed that the court reached the decision after offering the couple time for reconciliation, which they denied. The woman eventually accepted to pay the dowry in full for having her divorce, the lawyer Sulaibeekh said.