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Cairo - An Egyptian court here granted a divorce to a woman who complained her husband was "addicted" to the internet, the government newspaper Al-Gomhuriya reported on Wednesday.

The family affairs court ruling came under a March 2000 law that makes it easier for a woman to divorce on condition she abandons her financial rights and returns to her husband the dowry he gave her before their wedding.

The woman told the court that her husband spent 14 hours a day on the internet, and that he visited pornographic sites in particular, which made their married life impossible, the newspaper said.

After an attempt to reconcile the couple, under the three months allotted by law, the divorce was granted. Since the law passed in March 2000, a total of 11 714 divorce cases have been brought before the courts, most of them in Cairo and Alexandria, according to the Centre for Legal Aid to Egyptian Women.

Some 220 divorces were granted in 2000 while there are no figures available yet for the following years. - Sapa-AFP

From News24