Thursday, July 31, 2003
Malaysia to outlaw divorce via SMS
Agence France-Presse Kuala Lampur, July 31
Malaysia plans to outlaw divorce through mobile phone text messaging after a row erupted over an Islamic court ruling that it was acceptable, local media reported on Thursday.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the cabinet had agreed that Muslim men should be barred from divorcing their wives via the short messaging system (SMS) as such a serious issue needed to be handled in a more personal manner.
"We decided that while it may be correct from other angles, it is not the way to get a divorce," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
The paper said that the government planned to pass new laws to prevent divorce pronouncements through SMS and other electronic media such as email and fax.
Women's groups had been outraged by a decision last week by an Islamic Sharia court that a man's pronouncement of divorce via SMS to his wife was valid.
Women's Aid Organisation director Ivy Josiah had said that the method was "distant, cowardly, undignified and rude".
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior permission