Saudi man demands divorce moments after seeing new wife's face for the first time

(Photo: Harry Fodor)

Pre-wedding jitters are common among couples and who wouldn't be anxious tying the knot, but that is likely to be even more the case if you have never seen the person you are about to marry.

They say looks don't matter, but they clearly did for one Saudi man who fled from his wedding after seeing his bride's face for the first time.  

It is not uncommon in the Middle East for couples to agree to marry without seeing each other in person first.

The Daily Mail reports that at one wedding taking place at the town of Medinah in western Saudi Arabia, all was going well until the wedding photographer asked the newly-wed couple to pose and take a picture.

When the bride lifted her veil for the cameras, the groom was disgusted by her appearance, the Daily Mail reports, and he immediately demanded a divorce.

"You are not the girl I had imagined," the groom apparently told the bride. "I am sorry, but I divorce you."

The Daily Mail cited a local Saudi newspaper and said the bride burst into tears as guests rushed to comfort her.

"The groom said he had not been able to see his bride's face before marriage," Okaz reported. "When he divorced her, the bride collapsed and the wedding turned into a night of tears."

News of the runaway groom has been met with anger on social media.  He was heavily criticised for causing the bride pain and some even prayed he would suffer.

Others said the groom should appreciate the beauty of the bride's character and not base his union on physical beauty alone, while some prayed that God finds the bride another - and this time, better - husband to accept her for who she is.

Gulf News reported recently that a judged approved the divorce of a Saudi man after his wife of 10 months failed to respond to his WhatsApp messages.

Feeling that something was wrong, the man went straight home and found his wife watching television. When he asked her why she did not respond to his messages, she said she was chatting with her friends and that was apparently reason enough for the husband to file for divorce, which the court approved.