We’ve been witnessing a lot of violence crimes against women over the past few years, it may not be something new but with the power of social media, more victims now have the chance to speak up and spread their stories.
But what we certainly didn’t see before is a bride getting attacked by her husband-to-be right after stepping out of the beauty salon. In Ismailia, Maha, a 24 year old bride, was physically abused by her cousin and groom, Abdallah, 26 years old, while putting on her bridal gown.
A lot of theories circulated about the reason of the assault, though it will never be excused. Some of these justifications were that the bride quarreled with the groom’s sister.
Others said that the bride felt weak and almost fainted and that her groom was only waking her up, which didn’t really look like it, if we’re being honest. To which they later on responded by denying and saying that she tripped over her dress and he was only helping her into the car.
Twenty four hours after the incident, a video was posted by the couple and their relatives where they were eating and seemed to be getting along really well. In the video, the relatives were obviously trying to clear the air and pretend that everything’s okay and that there was nothing wrong.
Yesterday, a lot of media platforms started reaching out to the couple to hear the story and know what actually happened and how it was dismissed like that. The public had a lot of opinions to say about this incident and were all mostly on the bride’s team. Everyone was defending Maha and asking for her rights, and not only Maha but every other abused woman out there.
Sometimes, silence is a bliss and some things are better off left unexplained. A media company interviewed the couple at their home and the husband, Abdallah, made some infuriating statements.
Firstly, he described hitting a woman as a totally normal act, if not an acquired right. He believes people on social media overreacted and that may be because Egyptians who are not from Upper Egypt might find this unacceptable.
What was even more shocking was Maha’s, the bride, reaction and how she dealt with the situation. She stated how much she loves her husband and cousin and that nothing would ever force her to get married and live with someone she doesn’t love, in the first place.
Though we wish nothing but happiness for all newly-wed couples, domestic violence is not up for debate. No religion, logic or common sense can ever allow for domestic violence or make excuses or exceptions for it, be it against women, children or men.
Surprisingly, people’s opinions were still divided on the matter, even though it’s as clear as day how and why everyone should be against physical abuse and domestic violence. A lot of celebrities and public figures like Asser Yassin, Nashwa Mostafa, Somaya El Khashab, Mahmoud Abdel Moghny, Radwa El Sherbiny etc. condemned the action and spoke up.
It was quite surprising to see Amr Adeeb, the male Egyptian TV host and journalist, support abused women and condemn domestic violence and watch Yasmine Ezz, the female TV host, on the other hand make excuses for it. Internalized misogyny at its finest.
In conclusion, everyone should be against such action, regardless whether the couple got back together again or not. This is not just about the Ismailia couple, it’s about what people think about domestic violence and physical abuse in general.
Check what Amr Adeeb had to say:
Now see what Yasmine Ezz said, quite the difference:
Her statements received a lot of backlash causing this hashtag to be the No 1 Trending on Twitter yesterday and still going strong:
It was no surprise at all to see who supported Yasmine’s views.
It’s very sad to see people still divided about domestic violence in 2022, we should all condemn it. No one deserves to be abused and it is no one’s right to abuse another person, whether physically or emotionally.
We can’t help but wonder though: If that’s a video of only what happened publicly on the street, then what actually happens behind closed doors?
Give us your take on all of this, from the bride’s reaction to Yasmine Ezz’s statements.
