UAE man stops wife from playing PUBG; she files for divorce

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, May 4

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds aka PUBG is an online multiplayer battle royale game and playing it is serious business; at least according to a young woman in the UAE.

The Gulf News recently reported that a woman in her early 20s has sought divorce from her husband, after he reportedly tried to ban her from playing the popular game.

As per the report, Director of the Social Centre at Ajman Police, Captain Wafa Khalil Al Hosani, revealed to the publication that the woman has sought for divorce after she approached the centre seeking help against her husband who attempted to stop her from playing the game.

The report explains that the husband decided to step in and stop his wife from playing the game too much after he realised that she was getting addicted to it. He said she was negligent in her duties towards her family.

However, as Capt Al Hosani said the move by the husband did not go down well with the Arab woman who instead approached the centre seeking help.

He said: “The woman justified her demand for divorce saying she was being deprived of her right to choose her means of entertainment as she derived pleasure and comfort from the game. It was well within limits, she said, adding that she had not activated the chat option where she would be exposed to strangers and was playing the game only with her friends and relatives.”

While the woman maintains that her husband is depriving her of her basic rights, the man claims that his opposition is not a matter of “suppression of freedom”, but rather a move to ensure that their family is not affected by the "PUBG addiction".

The case also comes on the back of many similar complaints, and a recent ban on PUBG in Iraq for “inciting violence”.