Forged marriage contract lands pair in Dubai jail for three years

Dubai: An Emirati housewife and a Pakistani electrician were imprisoned after a court found them guilty of charges of bigamy and forging a marriage contract.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the 35-year-old Emirati housewife (a native of India) and the 42-year-old Pakistani electrician to three years in jail.

Prosecutors accused 35-year-old M.N. and 42-year-old S.D. of forging their marriage contract in Pakistan and violating the Islamic Sharia, which prohibits a woman from having two husbands simultaneously.

According to the arraignment sheet, M.N., a mother of two, absconded from her Emirati husband's house and flew with S.D. to Pakistan where they claimed before a marriage registrar that she was still single and they got married.

Pronouncing the verdict, Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir said the electrician will be deported after serving his jail term. The court also confiscated the forged documents.

Charges

The Public Prosecution charged the housewife and the electrician with committing bigamy and forging their marriage contract by falsely claiming to the Pakistani authorities that M.N. was a virgin and had never been married.

They were additionally charged with committing adultery, based on the falsified marriage contract.

Records said the convicts forged the marriage contract so they could have it approved by the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The woman's Emirati husband, H.G., testified: "We got married in 1985 and have children. The youngest child is 17... She stayed with the children at my house in Dubai until she left two or three years ago. She used to come and take the children out occasionally."

M.N.'s 17-year-old son claimed he once saw the electrician following their car when they were in Bur Dubai.

Her 21-year-old daughter testified: "I didn't know anything about the situation... but four years ago I saw S.D. driving behind us. He also came to our house three times and asked us to hand M.N. over to him. He claimed she was his wife."

The convicts denied their charges and pleaded not guilty when they appeared in court. Wednesday's judgment is still subject to appeal within 15 days.