Egypt?s ?Farewell Intercourse Law? News False: Report

Egyptian daily Al Ahram Thursday published an opinion piece that contained news about a new law known as the Farewell Intercourse Law which Egypt's parliament is considering to enact.

The Farewell Intercourse law would allow husband to have sex with their dead wives up to six hours after death. The opinion piece was written by Amr Abdul Samea, a strong supporter of Hosni Mubarak.

The news became an internet sensation after it was mentioned in an English version of Al-Arabiya and by Thursday afternoon it had set social media and the Internet on fire with several people claiming it to be false.

Many Egyptian on social networking site claimed that the news was false and it might have been reported by sources loyal to Mubarak.

The Christian Science Monitor also reported that the chances of Egyptian lawmakers to pass that law were zero or in fact less than that and that the news was just an internet gossip passed around by social media. According to the CSMonitor, the facts around the story are supported by zero evidence.

The news of the proposal of the controversial law has sparked outrage among women's rights group, especially within Egypt's National Council for Women (NCW) blaming the government of marginalizing and undermining the status of women that would affect the country's human development negatively.

Dr Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, has also written to the parliament speaker requesting to not pass the law.

The Huffington Post previously reported about Egypt parliament passing the law. However, the website later updated it saying that several people in Egypt were claiming that the story was false.

Jaber al-Qarmouty, prominent Egyptian journalist and TV anchor, criticized the whole idea of allowing husband to have sex with dead wife.

This is unbelievable. It is a catastrophe to give the husband such a right! Has the Islamic trend reached that far? Is there really a draft law in this regard? Are there people thinking in this manner? al-Qarmouty said.

British author, political commentator and blogger Andrew Sullivan said: There is no evidence that such a bill exists or was under discussion in parliament at any point.