Bean stew causes military raid in southern Baghdad

Bean stew causes military raid in southern Baghdad
A domestic quarrel over beans took an unexpected turn when a group of Iraqi army soldiers stormed into a house in the southern Baghdad neighbourhood.
2 min read
23 Mar, 2017
The man was disappointed that his wife repeatedly cooked the same bean stew [Facebook]
A domestic quarrel over beans took an unexpected turn when a group of Iraqi army soldiers stormed into a house in the southern Baghdad neighbourhood, according to local reports this week.

An Iraqi man in his 30's was allegedly "disappointed" that his wife repeatedly cooked the same bean stew over and over again, but after a hostile quarrel broke out the woman called her brothers to intervene, both of whom were in the Iraqi army.

Ordered by the enraged brothers-in-law, around 30 military vehicles were said to have stormed into the al-Dawra neighbourhood.

After soldiers broke into the house and beat the husband, the wife was escorted to her family home in military vehicles.

Local media picked up on the incident and beans could now mean fines as the country’s ministry of defence has ordered an investigation.

A ministry spokesman told The New Arab "The dispatch of so many troops over an upset wife is shameful and a disgrace for the Iraqi army", adding that the wife's brothers are high ranking officers and one of them is a member of the special operations forces.

In an interview with local Iraqi media, the husband demanded an investigation into the incident which he said threatened his life.

"On what basis does a large military force intervene in a minor domestic dispute?" he said, "How can my wife's brothers use their army status to break into my home, attack me, take my wife and leave?

"I urge the government to investigate the incident... I want to protect myself from the possibility of being wrongful accused of terrorism or being attacked again."

While news is yet to emerge over whether the quarrel over beans saw any domestic violence and why the brothers intervened so emphatically, users on social media quickly took to the web to mock the whole incident.

"I swear nothing is tastier than the bean stew!", a Facebook user said.

"How can a bean stew break up a marriage?", another wondered.