Iran court orders 'stingy' husband to buy 124,000 roses: report
Posted by Salraz in Court, Husband, Iran, Odd
TEHRAN (AFP) - An Iranian court has ordered a man to buy his wife 124,000 roses after she filed a complaint against her "stingy" husband to claim her dowry, a press report said on Monday.
"After 10 years of marriage Hengameh had decided to claim her dowry of 124,000 red roses to punish her very stingy husband," the Etemad newspaper said.
"Shortly after marriage I realised that Shahin was very cheap. He even refused to pay for my coffee if we went to a cafe or restaurant," said the woman, identified only by her first name Hengameh.
But Shahin told the court he could only afford five roses a day and complained that it was "her billionaire friends who had put such ideas in her head."
The court has seized his apartment worth 600 million rials (64,000 dollars) until he has bought her the entire 124,000 roses. A long stemmed red rose costs 20,000 rials (about two dollars) in Tehran.
Under Iranian law, a woman can claim her dowry or mahr, which is a gift pledged by the man at the time of marriage, at any time during married life or when getting a divorce.
It is common in Iran to offer gold coins, or property as mahr and the number of gold coins (worth about 260 dollars) could vary from 14 to even hundreds or thousands.
An Iranian man can end up in jail over dowry debts and there has been a judicial debate whether it should be adjusted according to the man's financial status.