"The stab of a close one has no remedy," this popular saying may summarize what a Egyptian wife experienced in betrayal and infidelity from one of her closest relations, prompting her to file for divorce due to harm in family court. After 17 years of marriage that resulted in three children, an Egyptian woman who works as a pharmacist filed a divorce lawsuit against her husband, a businessman, after he cheated on her by marrying her deceased brother's widow and evicting her from their apartment in a well-known compound without prior notice.
She was shocked to find that the apartment's lock had been changed. According to her lawyer, Noha El-Gendy, the client was taken aback when she returned home with her children from sports training to discover that the key to their apartment had been changed. She was greeted by her deceased brother's widow, who informed her of her marriage to her husband and occupied the home with her four children.
The wife faced compounded shock and an indescribable feeling, as she had lost not only her husband but also her life and that of her children, her home, and her sense of security. She felt she had been stabbed by those closest to her: her husband and her late brother's widow. She never imagined that her kindness would result in betrayal.
The lawyer confirmed that her client had been hosting her brother's widow and her children weekly at her home since his death two years ago to support them, never expecting that her kindness and generosity would lead to infidelity and treachery.
The betrayed wife revealed that her husband and her brother's widow had maliciously plotted together, while she was preoccupied with taking her children to the sports club for their training, they were planning to take over the house, change the lock, and alter everything entirely before her return home.
In a strange response, the husband told his betrayed wife that he was "doing well" by the children of his deceased brother by his actions, claiming he would rent another house for her and their three children away from the family home since his new wife insisted on living there with her children.
Despite the difficulty in obtaining a divorce ruling in family courts in Egypt unless significant harm has occurred, which drives many women to seek khula (divorce initiated by the wife), a family court in Nasr City ruled in favor of the wife's request for a divorce due to harm, citing the husband's marriage to another woman without notifying the first wife. Meanwhile, the issue of her entitlement to the marital home awaits execution soon.
Additionally, the wife has filed several cases for alimony, child support, and school expenses against her husband, which are still pending in court.
