Saudi man divorces wife for forgetting to serve sheep's head to guests

A bizarre divorce case that saw a Saudi man separate from his wife because she forgot to add a 'sheep's head' to a rice dish she served to his guests is causing a social media meltdown of the sorts.

Speaking to local newspaper Al Watan, the woman, who chose to remain anonymous, went public with the case. 

"My husband divorced me last year after I forgot to add a sheep's head to a feast I'd prepared for a few of his guests," she said. 

After dinner, the husband walked into the kitchen, screamed at his wife and divorced her, saying that she had 'disgraced' and 'embarrassed' him in front of guests. 

"He scolded me for ruining the most important part of dinner and said that the sheep's head is considered a sign of 'generosity,'" the wife explained. 

A few months after he divorced her, the man asked his wife for forgiveness, however, she refused to get back with him because "he had already married another woman." 

The bizarre case caught the attention of thousands of people on Twitter, and their reactions are pretty understandable.

"I congratulate the wife on her divorce, she's done with that regressive human being."

"And people still call women half brained creatures, or say that they should only marry their cousins... Good riddance, you'll hopefully marry someone so much better than him in the future."

"Regression."

Speaking to Al Watan, psychoanalyst Dr. Hani Al Ghamdi, recounted a few other bizarre divorce cases he recently came across. 

In one such case, a man divorced his wife because he couldn't stand the tone of her voice. In another, a husband divorced his wife during their honeymoon because she wore an anklet. 

Another case Al Ghamdi spoke of is one that saw a husband divorce his wife because she walked ahead of him in a mall even after he had asked her to stay behind him.

Al Ghamdi attributes the high rates of divorce in the kingdom to lack of knowledge among people when it comes to the core values of marriage. 

Divorce rates are rising in Saudi Arabia, and while most cases can be attributed to reasonable causes, a lot of them can't.

In an interview with Al-Watan, legal marriage officiator، Hmoud Al Shammari said that amid the rising divorce rates, counseling services must be provided to newlyweds and married couples in general. 

In 2015, concern over skyrocketing divorce rates in the kingdom led the Ministry of Justice to launch "marriage workshops."

However, separation rates have continued to rise, and several of the kingdom's counselors and social workers continue to work on raising awareness on the issue, especially among young people in the country. 

Saudi Arabia isn't the only Arab country currently facing this social issue. 

In recent years, the UAE, Kuwait and several other Gulf and Arab countries have also seen a rise in divorce rates.