A husband in Saudi Arabia was angry after learning a male doctor would be assisting his wife for childbirth. The jealous husband did not want any other man to see his wife naked. Therefore, when a male doctor was assigned to assist the man’s wife during labor and delivery of the couple’s baby, the husband was not pleased. After a successful delivery of the pair’s baby, the husband tricked the OB/GYN into meeting him in the hospital garden where he proceeded to shoot the unsuspecting doctor.

Newsweek reports that an angry Saudi husband attempted to kill the male doctor that delivered his wife’s baby. The man went to the King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh back in April where his wife was presented in labor. The mother was taken to the maternity ward where she was assigned the male OB/GYN, Dr. Muhannad Al Zabn. The doctor was charged with caring for the laboring women and eventually assisted in the childbirth which meant he was exposed to the woman’s genitals during the birthing process.

Male doctor helping deliver woman’s baby shot by jealous husband in Saudi Arabia: https://t.co/V9dkcB50it pic.twitter.com/nMRfAdphFN — Women in the World (@WomenintheWorld) May 27, 2016

The husband of the birthing woman did not want another man to see his wife’s private areas and was enraged when a male doctor was assigned to her ward. However, instead of confronting the doctor during labor, the husband waited and devised a plan to rid the man who saw his wife’s most intimate regions from the Earth completely. The husband called Dr. Muhannad Al Zabn and asked if he would meet him in the hospital’s garden so that he could thank him for delivering his baby without incident.

Male doctor helps Saudi woman deliver baby – and is then shot by husband https://t.co/UVw2YNRILT #MiddleEast pic.twitter.com/qgp6t90vWU — The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) May 26, 2016

However, when the husband arrived at the garden to meet the doctor, he had another hidden agenda in mind. After greeting the doctor, the man pulled out a weapon hidden under his clothing and fired upon the doctor. The doctor was hit by the bullet and hospital staff immediately descended on the scene providing emergency care to the critically injured staff member. Meanwhile, the father fled the scene.

According to the Gulf News, the doctor was listed in critical condition with severe injuries from the shooting but is now recovering from the ordeal. The father was later arrested by local authorities and taken in for questioning. The father, who has not been named by local police, says that he was upset that the male doctor saw his wife naked and felt that the hospital should have provided a female gynecologist for the delivery.

In fact, the man says that he wife was seen by a female gynecologist for her entire pregnancy and that he doesn’t understand why Dr. Muhannad Al Zabn was assigned to her for birth. He says that the hospital should have taken into consideration that many women and their husbands do not want male doctors seeing their genitals and that the idea of a male OB/GYN made him uncomfortable.

Though most people agree that the father was wrong for attempting to kill the male OB/GYN, some note that the hospital should have honored the couple’s wishes to have a female doctor on hand.

Though the man’s actions have been deemed criminal, many seem to be siding with the husband when it comes to ensuring women are segregated from male doctors in the hospital setting. In 2011, more than 100 doctors and religious leaders wrote to the ministry of health urging them to build women-only hospitals. A Saudi woman started a Facebook group named “Pure Hospitals,” a campaign for hospitals where all staff — from surgeons to cleaners — were women. The idea was allegedly designed by the supporters to ensure that “vices such a exchanging looks” could not start “unethical relationships” while the woman was seeking treatment or care.

“The mixing of men and women in hospitals and other places leads to corruption and vices such as exchanging looks, breakdowns in barriers between men and women, and unethical relationships forbidden in Islam.”

Do you think that hospitals should be required to provide female OB/GYNs to patients who are uncomfortable with a male doctor assisting in childbirth? Should hospitals be required to maintain a female delivery staff for cases such as these? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Image via Shutterstock]