Manama: A Saudi man divorced his wife after she accepted a scholarship to study abroad.
The husband in a village in Jazan in southern Saudi Arabia took a new wife and refused to compromise on his decision to divorce his first wife.
Attempts by his own family and the relatives of the first wife to make him reconsider failed to convince him even though the couple had a baby boy, local news site Al Ain reported on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia education authorities spend large sums of money to secure scholarships for thousands of male and female students in universities in several countries, mainly in Western Europe and the US.
Social media users were sharply divided over the husband’s move.
Those who supported him said that he was right to divorce a woman who would not be with him for years as she was going to study abroad and he did not want to leave his country.
They insisted that the wife should have understood his situation and stayed with him. Some users criticised the wife for thinking of herself over her husband and child and her family stability.
However, those who sided with the wife said that the husband was thinking only of himself and that he should have taken his wife’s ambition for a brighter future for her and the family into consideration. Some added that he was afraid that after her graduation from university she could have a higher social status.
Divorce rates in Saudi Arabia are among the highest in the region despite tremendous efforts from the authorities to promote a more tolerant and positive culture to help young couples lead more stable lives.
