Saudi judge says it's okay to slap overspending wives

Husbands are allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic violence.

“If a person gives SR1,200 to his wife and she spends SR900 to purchase an abaya (the black gown) from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment,” said Judge Hamad Al-Razine.

The judge made this comment in the presence of Princess Adila bint Abdullah, deputy chairperson of the National Family Safety Program, who attended the seminar on the role of judicial and security institutions in preventing domestic violence.



Al-Razine was explaining the causes of an increase in domestic violence in the country, adding that women were also equally responsible. “But nobody puts even a fraction of blame on them,” he said before making the controversial comment.

Al-Razine’s comment evoked an immediate reaction from the women in the audience who loudly protested. They were all the more surprised when they learned that the man who made the comment was a judge.

Al-Razine also pointed out that women’s indecent behaviour and use of offensive words against their husbands were some of the reasons for domestic violence in the country.