RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The marriage between a 90-year-old man and his 15-year-old wife has been ended by a Saudi court ruling.
The verdict, delivered last week by a court in southwestern Saudi Arabia, ends a months-long dispute between the man and the bride's family over their refusal to allow their daughter to return to her husband and whether he was entitled to take back his dowry, Gulf News reported Tuesday.
The bride's family must return the dowry, the court also ruled.
The Gulf News said dispute began when he proposed to the teen and offered her parents a nearly $12,000 dowry, among other things. The girl's father accepted.
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However, the marriage was never consummated because the bride locked herself in a room after the celebrations. The next day, the groom called her family to talk to her, the newspaper said. After seeing her distraught, the family took the bride home and refused to compromise with the groom.
The family later refused to allow him to take his wife with him when he visited her later, prompting him to ask for the dowry to be returned, the newspaper said. The family said it was spent, leading to the court case.
The man said the case remained open and that the divorce was decreed by a tribal leader, not an official judge, the Gulf Times said.
"I did not want the dowry money back, and I still want my wife to come home," he said. "I am going to take the case to a court this week to rule on the conspiracy by the family to take my money."
