Two stories in yesterday's Gulf News seemed very typical of this part of the world. The first one was about a 90 year old man in Saudi Arabia who married a 15 year old girl. Unfortunately for him it did not go too smoothly.
He got the girls parents to agree to the marriage by providing a dowry of 45,000 Riyals and paying for the nuptial celebrations. After the ceremony he returned to the marital home with his bride, but his hopes for a cozy consummation of the marriage were dashed when the bride locked herself, sobbing, in the connubial bedroom.
The groom contacted her parents to talk some sense into her, but on their arrival at the scene, seeing how distressed their daughter was, took her straight home. The groom, understandably was a bit miffed. First prize for him was to get his bride back, but if this was not possible then he wanted the return of his dowry.
Oops sorry said the girls parents we have spent the dowry and not a cent is left. This prompted the groom, who, with the wisdom of his 90 years (yes the wheels of wisdom turn a little slower when you're 90), decided to sue the parents for the return of the dowry. The court declared the marriage null and void and ordered the parents to return the dowry.
The report did not detail whether the parents had coughed up or not. Obviously the parents had no intention of palming their daughter off to the old man, but saw an easy payday by playing with his lust. I feel a little sorry for the old man. In most countries he would be classed a paedophile, but not so in Saudi Arabia, but he was asking to be taken for a ride.
The second story was about the increase in pedestrian deaths on UAE roads. The problem is that pedestrians are too lazy to find a safe crossing on busy roads and risk their lives by trying to get across 4 lane highways. Drivers here are very arrogant and drive extremely fast so dodging stray pedestrians is quite difficult for them.
It was suggested that the system of Diya or blood money be done away with in the case of pedestrian accidents in order to try and deter them from gambling with their lives. Blood money can be as high as AED200,000 which for the families of the poorer in this society is a fortune. Workers have been known to commit suicide by running in front of cars so that their families can benefit from this windfall.
Diya can also get a murderer off death row. Families of the victim can forgive the murderer providing he can demonstrate his contrition by an offer of sufficient money to assuage their desire for revenge. It is interesting to note that a few years ago the owner of a thoroughbred Arabian Horse which was killed in a car accident was granted AED400,000 blood money, roughly double the amount normally paid in compensation for a human.
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