A Saudi Man Demands A Divorce From His Wife After Seeing Her Face For The First Time

It’s not as crazy as it sounds

Saudi Arabian culture is unique. That premise alone allows for several things that aren’t common in the Western world–the vice versa is also true. So, when a story about a groom that divorces his bride upon seeing her face, several questions arise, but it isn’t uncommon for a groom to arrange to be married to a woman he’s never met. In this particular instance, the man and woman agreed to be married.

They were eventually physically together–on the day of the wedding in a western Saudi town, Medinah–and they were married, after which a photographer asked them to pose for wedding pictures, which required the removal of the newlywed bride’s veil. Once she did so, her new husband jumped to his feet, allegedly in disgust.

You are not the girl I want to marry. You are not the one I had imagined. I am sorry, but I divorce you.

Ouch. Naturally, his reaction upset the bride, who reportedly burst into tears and was visibly upset throughout the embarrassing ordeal. According to the Daily  Mail report, onlookers and people involved with the wedding tried to resolve the situation, but to no avail. Social media users empathized with the bride, calling her soon-to-be ex-husband terrible and suggesting the wife “dodged a bullet.”