Friday, June 13, 2008

No Intergenerational Marriage For This Man

Which reminds me of a joke:

A 92-year-old man is having his annual physical.

"Doctor," he exclaims. "I have wonderful news!"

"Tell me," the doctor insists.

"After my last physical you told me to get more exercise, to have more vitality. So, I bought myself a Russian bride! She is 27-years-old, stunningly beautiful, loves me deeply, satisfies my every whim, and promises to stay with me forever."

"That's great," says the doctor.

"It gets better," says the man. "She is pregnant and we are going to have a baby. What do you think of that?"

"I know an elderly gentlemen," explained the doctor. "He likes hunting, has done it every weekend of his life. He's getting a bit senile, but refuses to give-up his passion. Last weekend, instead of grabbing his rifle as he left for the hunt, he grabbed an umbrella. He strode through the forest with a group of other hunters and suddenly spied a rabbit. He lifted the umbrella, aimed carefully, popped the umbrella open, and the rabbit fell dead in its tracks. What do you think of that?"

"I think," the man said thoughtfully. "That somebody else killed that rabbit."

"Precisely!" Exclaimed the doctor.

Egypt bans 92-year-old's marriage

By Frances Harrison
BBC News

The Egyptian authorities have banned a 92-year-old man from marrying a 17-year-old girl, the Egyptian al-Akhbar newspaper has reported.

The ministry of justice invoked a law which says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.

Egypt brought in the law prohibiting the marriage of elderly men to very young girls during the Gulf oil boom.

It was an effort to prevent wealthy men from the Gulf states seeking young poor brides from the Egyptian countryside.

Not much is known about the 92-year-old man who tried to marry an Egyptian girl of 17except that he is an Arab from the Gulf.

An Egyptian justice official said by refusing to endorse their marriage it would now be impossible for the girl to travel abroad with her husband.

However, in special cases, the justice ministry does allow foreign men to marry Egyptian women more than 25 years their junior if they deposit a very large sum of money in the name of their wife at the Egyptian National Bank.

Both husband and wife also have to report in person to the ministry which checks their marriage is genuine to prevent any kind of trafficking in women.

According to the al-Akhbar newspaper, 173 such marriages were allowed in the past year after the foreign husband deposited a sum equivalent to about US $80,000 and was screened.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7452456.stm

Published: 2008/06/13 09:11:16 GMT

© BBC MMVIII




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