Not content with allowing old men to marry underaged girls, a Saudi Arabia judge is doing one better in promoting equal treatment of womenkind in the Kingdom:

Husbands are allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic violence, Saudi media reported Sunday.

Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that "if a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment."

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Update 5/11/08 - Clarification: it's not the same judge that ruled that the marriage between a 58-year-old man and the 8-year-old girl was legitimate - Thanks seefish3!