Dubai: A man and his girlfriend face deportation after they were convicted of having unmarried sex leading to an illegal pregnancy.
The 28-year-old American employee and his 22-year-old Pakistani girlfriend, who later became his wife after she delivered their baby, were caught on the wrong side of the law after it was discovered that the woman had become pregnant out-of-wedlock in May.
The 22-year-old woman had called an ambulance to rush to give birth at a hospital, where it was discovered that she had no official papers for the child’s father, police were informed.
The 22-year-old college student confessed to police interrogators that she fell in love with the American man, who had been studying in the same college. “We met in college and we dated for some time … then we had a love affair that resulted in me getting pregnant. We had consensual sex a number of times at his place in Dubai Marina. Then he told me that he was planning to marry me … I also communicated with his mother,” the woman said.
The American also admitted the affair with the Pakistani. Prosecutors accused the couple of having unmarried sex.
The Dubai Misdemeanours Court convicted the American and the Pakistani of having consensual sex after they appeared before the judge and pleaded guilty.
The defendants’ lawyer, Mohammad Abdullah Al Redha, argued that his clients did not have a criminal intent as he provided the court with a copy of their official marriage certificate.
“My clients have been good residents in the UAE and did not intend to breach the law. Since they were notified about the legal consequences of their actions, they approached the Sharia Court and got married. We are providing a copy of the marriage certificate and ask the court to hand them a lenient sentence. The wife is a new mother and she needs to be with her baby and take care of him,” defended lawyer Al Redha.
The court handed the couple a three-month suspended imprisonment on grounds of leniency but the defendants will have to be deported.
The ruling has become final since the couple and prosecutors did not appeal the primary judgement.
Lawyer Al Redha argued before the court: “My clients have been here for a long period of time and have been law-abiding citizens. We ask the court to treat them with the utmost leniency.”
