Hai’a breaks up wedding party at Dhahran mall

DHAHRAN — A celebration party held by an Egyptian couple for their marriage at a shopping complex here, was broken up by the police when it drew attention of members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Hai’a).

According to Saudi news website Sabq, the Egyptian couple surprised thousands of shoppers when they celebrated their wedding at the shopping complex.

The bride, wearing a full-length white gown and a veil, and the groom in a black suit strutted on the marble floor of Dhahran Mall arm-in-arm, followed by friends and a flash mob of curious onlookers. Some women danced to the wedding music played by some of the guests.

The bridegroom, a teacher at a private school in Dhahran, and his bride solemnized their wedding in Egypt, took the plane while wearing their suit and gown to the Dammam airport.

Then, they headed straight to the mall where they planned to have another celebration with their friends and colleagues.

The couple, cheered by emotional well-wishers, marched to the food court where they sat for some time as people clicked on their cameras and mobile phones to take pictures of the unprecedented event.

However, the celebrations drew the attention of the Hai’a members, who broke up the event and took the groom in for questioning.

The bride was taken by the wives of the groom’s colleagues out of the mall.

The teacher reportedly told the police that his actions were in a genuine good spirit and that he wanted to celebrate his wedding. He insisted that he was not aware of any rules banning public celebrations. However, he was told that the public celebration at the shopping mall was unacceptable.

Instructions have been issued to submit the case to the competent authorities, Sabq reported. — Agencies