'Farewell Intercourse' law allowing sex with dead wives sparks fury in Egypt
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(AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)
Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament is set to introduce a law allowing husbands to have sex with their dead wives up to six hours after death. Critics fear it highlights a trend of increasingly anti-female legislation since the Arab Spring.
The “farewell Intercourse” bill was inspired by a Fatwa issued by a Moroccan cleric last year. Zamzami Abdul Bar said that since the two would meet in Heaven again anyway, death shouldn’t get in the way of one last post-mortem marital romp.
Critics have slammed the law as “catastrophic.” Prominent journalist and TV host Jaber al-Qarmouty used his program on Tuesday to lash out at the proposed law.
“This is unbelievable. It is a catastrophe to give the husband such a right! Has the Islamic trend reached that far? Is there really a draft law in this regard? Are there people thinking in this manner,” he lamented on air.
Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) also called on Parliament not to adopt this and other measures which they believe increasingly seek to roll back women’s rights.
The NTC further charges that "marginalizing and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country's human development.”
Along with the rather grim “farewell Intercourse” draft law, parliament is also set to approve legislation that would allow girls as young as 14 to get married.
Lawmakers are also seeking to eliminate a reform implemented over a decade ago that allows women to end unhappy or abusive marriages without interference from their spouses.
NCW head Dr. Mervat al-Talawi sent a message to the People’s Assembly speaker outlining the plight of women in post-revolutionary Egypt.
Apart from the controversial marriage reforms, she also reportedly appealed to parliament not to legislate away a woman’s right to education and employment under the guise of religion, Al Arabiya reports.
But with the Muslim Brotherhood securing the biggest bloc in parliament and posed to take the presidency in next month’s elections, the rights women enjoyed during the Mubarak era may soon be a thing of the past.