Dubai: A woman, who claimed her husband had left their household for more than 18 months during which he abandoned her physically and emotionally, won her divorce lawsuit.
The German woman got married to her countryman in 2008 and the married couple had been living together in Dubai before the husband was said to have walked out on his wife and deserted her.
Not weathering the fact that she had been married and that her husband had ditched her for more than a year and a half, the woman decided to make it official and filed for a divorce case before the Dubai Sharia Court.
The German woman’s lawyer, Awatif Mohammad, of Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants, argued in court that her client filed for divorce due to the state of ‘harm and agony’ that she had been going through after her husband abandoned her.
“My client is a wife like any other wife … she was married but her husband abandoned her for more than a year and a half. When the defendant ditched my client, she was harmed and stressed emotionally. She has physical and emotional needs that needed to be attended to just like any other woman … when the husband left the house, he deprived her of those needs. Those needs are protected and conserved by the marriage contract. The defendant also stopped spending on his wife for more than three years,” argued lawyer Mohammad.
Despite the fact that he is well off and has a very high income, according to lawyer Mohammad, the defendant refused to pay for his wife’s housing, maid and other expenses.
In her written argument before the Sharia Court, the lawyer said: “The litigants had constant disputes while they were married … and it was always him behind those disputes. He constantly refused to spend on his wife … furthermore, he always relied on her to spend her money.”
Records said the woman’s claim for divorce was first referred to Dubai Court’s Family Guidance and Reconciliation Section for an attempt to reach an amicable reconciliation between the two.
After failing to reach a reconciliation between the German couple, the lawsuit was referred to the Sharia Court.
In her lawsuit, the lawyer mentioned that her client was seeking permanent divorce and Dh90,000 in alimony plus compensation.
According to the primary ruling, the presiding judge granted the claimant a divorce and ordered the former husband to pay the woman Dh11,000 in alimony.
