Dubai: A couple was accused of having sex outside marriage after the woman was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that she had a miscarriage.

A 28-year-old Nepalese waitress was believed to have suffered painful contractions and bleeding before her 29-year-old countryman clerk rushed her to a hospital in March.

Following medical check-ups and treatment, the doctors informed the waitress that she had been pregnant for a month and that she had a miscarriage.

When asked about her marriage papers, the waitress and the clerk told doctors that they were married but didn’t have their marriage contract with them.

Hospital staff informed police about the incident, who apprehended the clerk, and posted a policewoman outside the waitress’s hospital room as she was recovering. The Nepalese couple told police interrogators that they married in Nepal but didn’t process the legal papers because it would have cost them money that they didn’t have at that time.

Prosecutors charged the two suspects of having consensual sex without being married.

The suspects pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.

“We did not have illegal sex … she is my legitimate wife but we were late in obtaining the papers and having them notarised by the concerned government departments because we didn’t have enough money at that time,” the clerk contended in court.

The couple provided the court with an official marriage contract stamped and notarised by the concerned authorities.

When questioned by prosecutors, the waitress testified she met her countryman at the hotel where she had been working.

“We fell in love and then we travelled to Nepal where we got married in a temple in September 2017. We didn’t process pur marriage papers because we couldn’t afford it. We were living together in Dubai and in February, I discovered that I was pregnant. One day in March, I felt painful contractions and then suffered bleeding because I had been carrying heavy load at my work. My husband rushed me to a hospital where doctors told me that I had a miscarriage. When we were asked about our marriage papers, we failed to present them. They informed the police about the incident and we were apprehended,” she told prosecutors.

The clerk seconded his wife’s statement.

The Dubai Misdemeanours Court acquitted the couple after they submitted their official marriage papers.

The ruling in the case is final.