http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=90216&d=20&m=12&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Wednesday, 20, December, 2006 (30, Dhul Qa`dah, 1427)
Wife in Indonesia, Maid in Kingdom
Maha Akeel, Arab News
JEDDAH, 20 December 2006 - An 18-year-old Indonesian woman
sought the help of her country's embassy in Riyadh for a divorce from her
abusive husband only to find out that her marriage with the elderly Saudi was
not recognized and she is in the Kingdom actually as his maid, Arab News has
learned.
Noor Aysha Bukhari came crying to the embassy last week after
less than three months of living under the impression that she was married to
F.S., who she claims abused her and forced her to serve his two other Saudi
wives and his children.
The lawyer retained by the embassy, Nasser Al-Dandani,
confirmed the case to Arab News and said that Indonesian officials would follow
up on it and provide proof that the couple got married in Indonesia.
"We will then go to court to persuade him to admit the
marriage and consequently divorce her and compensate her," said the lawyer.
The marriage would still be considered illegal in Saudi
Arabia because he never registered it with the authorities and brought Bukhari
into the country on a domestic servant visa.
The young woman came to the embassy a few days ago
complaining of her husband's mistreatment and seeking a divorce.
Bukhari says that she occupied a room on the second floor of
F.S.'s house where, during the day, she took care of his three children from
his first marriage and served his second wife and three other children, and in
the evening she played the role as the man's third wife.
Saudi men often take second wives, according to social
custom, creating insecurity for first wives.
F.S. initially admitted to the marriage, but later denied it,
according to a source close to the case who did not want to be named.
"He is refusing to admit the marriage unless she pays him
back a loan of SR3,200 he claims to have given her family because of their poor
financial situation," said the source, adding that this "loan" was actually the
dowry the man paid to marry the woman in Indonesia.
This is not an individual case although such cases are not
very common, according to sources. A few months ago a local newspaper reported
that an Indonesian woman came as a maid to look for her son from her Saudi
ex-husband who married her in Indonesia, then divorced her and took her son.
It is common for Saudi men to marry Indonesian women
temporarily through misyar ("no obligation") marriages and divorce them after
paying a relatively small sum, which to the poor women and their families makes
a big difference.
Al-Watan newspaper recently wrote that 89 percent of Saudi
households have at least one maid. The total number of domestic workers is well
over 1 million, including Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Ethiopians,
Indonesians, Nepalese and Sri Lankans
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