Man accused of framing his wife

Dubai: Lawyers for the defendants in a consensual sex case on Monday accused the plaintiff of malevolently fabricating a consensual sex case against his wife and a sales manager.

The housewife, 43, and the sales manager, 39, appealed their primary judgment [one year in jail] when they appeared before the Dubai Appeals Court on Monday.

In April, the Dubai Misdemeanours Court sentenced the defendants, both Indians, to a year in jail followed by deportation after they were convicted of having consensual sex and sitting in a private place together without being related [khulwa].

Lawyers Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi and Ayman Merdas, defending the housewife and the manager respectively, argued before the judge in courtroom 20 that their clients are innocent and that the husband lodged the complaint out of malice.

Al Shamsi and Merdas contended that the husband lodged his complaint to coerce the 43-year-old woman to waive her financial rights to the tune of millions of dirhams.

Court records show that the housewife lodged a breach of trust case against her husband in addition to two real estate lawsuits.

Al Shamsi, defending his client, argued: "The husband alleged in his complaint that he knew that my client [his wife] was having an illicit affair with the manager since 2006… he only complained in 2008. His complaint is malevolent and illogical. He also fabricated evidence. The whole case lacks corroborated evidence… I ask the court to cancel the primary judgment and dismiss the charge of consensual sex against my client."

Meanwhile, Merdas contended: "The husband abused the fact that my client is the family's close friend and he set him and the housewife up. It was impossible for the suspects to have had consensual sex because the 39-year-old is a close friend of the family. The husband lodged his complaint out of malice and to coerce the housewife to relinquish her lawsuits and waive her rights."