Iranian to pay 124,000-rose dowry

[Demeter]

Source: BBC



An Iranian court has ordered a man to give his wife the 124,000 roses that he promised in her dowry, after she filed a complaint to claim it, reports say. The woman said she was claiming the dowry because her "very stingy husband" would not even pay for a cup of coffee, according to the E'temad newspaper.
The court has seized the man's flat until he produces all of the roses.

Under Iranian law, a woman can claim her dowry, or mahr, at any time during a marriage or when getting divorced. The gift becomes the property of the wife to do whatever she likes with. It is required in order for the marriage contract and the marriage itself to be valid.



According to E'temad, the woman, identified as Hengameh, decided to claim her entire dowry of 124,000 red roses after 10 years of marriage to "punish her very stingy husband". "Shortly after marriage, I realised that Shahin was very cheap," she told the newspaper. "He even refused to pay for my coffee if we went to a cafe or restaurant."

Shahin told the court he could only afford to give her five roses a day and complained that it was his wife's "billionaire friends who had put such ideas in her head". But the judge rejected Shahin's pleas and ordered his $64,000 (£33,000) flat to be confiscated until he has bought them all. A long-stemmed rose costs about $2 (£1.09) in the Iranian capital, Tehran...It is common in Iran to offer gold coins or property as mahr. An Iranian man can end up in jail for dowry debts.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7275506.stm

[LiberalFighter]

1. He promised her a dowry he couldn't afford?

[Demeter]

3. He's a Bird: Cheap, Cheap, Cheap! Get It?

[knight_of_the_star]

2. That's an interesting dowry

Why so many or in that form I wonder, sounds like a problem waiting to happen there.

[Yavapai]

4. WATCH OUT!!!

The global price of roses are going to skyrocket. Thank god Valentine's day is almost a year away!

[truthisfreedom]

5. Cheaper to let the flat go and start over.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

6. Yep, you're right!

Maybe he can get a bulk rate!!

[Posteritatis]

7. Not nearly as fun to watch, though. (nt)

[wuushew]

8. The BBC got the headline wrong

I believe they mean Dower not Dowry.






A dowry (also known as trousseau) is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.<1>

The opposite direction, property given to the bride by the groom, is called dower or mahr. Normally the bride would be entitled to her dowry in event of her widowhood, prior to the evolution of her dower rights; so common was this that the terms "dowry" and "dower" are sometimes confused.

The dowry should not be confused with a bride price, money or goods paid by the prospective groom to the bride's parents in exchange for her hand in marriage.

It should also be distinguished from sowry, which is the money obtained by a wife by filing false dowry case against the husband and his relatives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry

[Demeter]

10. No Doubt. As Henry Higgins Exclaimed, "Why can't the English teach teir children how to speak?"

Proving that it's not just Americans who murder the English tongue!

[superconnected]

9. Cute, but it still spells, "Iranian government is insane."

[Demeter]

11. Please Locate and Inform Me of Any Sane Governments

I'm desperately in need of one.

[kineneb]

14. not really. The rights to dower are written into their legal code.

Surprisingly, Iran still has some of the more "modern" rights for women in the ME. Women keep their own family names, have legal right to their possessions, and obviously have legal right to the dower from their husband.

They can drive cars and do not have to wear a burka. They do have to "dress modestly" in public, which has been contentious, as Iranian women like to dress fashionably. Many play a "cat and mouse" game with the authorities to see how far they can push the rules. That is when we get the news that someone is getting punished.

I am not defending the Islamic Revolution; it forced many members of my family into exile. But many of these laws date back centuries and were considerably more liberal than those in some "western" countries at the time.

Underneath the Islamic facade of every Iranian is a Zoroastrian trying to get out. The Mullahs have given up trying to suppress celebration of the ancient Persian holidays.

Happy Nou Rooz (New Year= vernal equinox Mar 20) to everyone!

[Ordr]

12. Iranian to pay 124,000-rose dowry

Civilized.

[Demeter]

13. Not Really. She Had To Sue to Get It

And she's doing it as payback. Not my idea of a "civil" marriage. I abhor the reasons why she had to resort to it, but I applaud her ability to do so.