Saudi man announces divorce at mall

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A husband at a Saudi Arabian shopping mall announced over a microphone that he was divorcing his wife after a young man gave her his phone number.

The husband said he witnessed his wife receive a slip of paper from a young man after he had separated from her and the couple's three children to shop at different stores, Alarabiya.net reported Tuesday.

He confronted his wife about the exchange and demanded to see the paper, which she refused. He grabbed her purse by force and saw the paper with the man's number written on it.

The husband then approached a cashier and asked to use the microphone.

"To all those present and all the shoppers. Please listen to me. I want you to bear witness to what I say," the man said. He announced he was divorcing his wife irreversibly and they are barred from reconciliation by Islamic law.

The man then drove away from the mall, leaving his wife and children behind.