In a landmark decision, a Charedi man who has refused to grant his wife a get for the past ten years, since she caught him cheating on her with another man, has been sent to jail by the rabbinical court until he relents.

The couple were married for five years and had two children together before his wife caught him cheating and filed for divorce. A court ruled ten years ago that he must grant her the divorce, however the man refused.

According to Ynet, during a recent hearing in which the wife sought sanctions against her husband, the judge unexpectedly agreed to the wife’s request for the husband to be arrested until he agreed to the divorce and even ordered a police car to be dispatched to the courthouse for his immediate arrest.

The lawyer for the wife, Attorney Batya Kahana-Dror of the Mavoi Satum organisation for women who have been denied a divorce, said of the ruling: “I regret the fact that the court does not use the arrest sanction often enough. It is illogical, unreasonable and contradicts Halachah.” She added: “ninety-five percent of divorce recalcitrants are willing to grant a get after spending several nights at the Russian Compound or Abu Kabir [prisons]. It works remarkably.”