UAE: Woman granted divorce after husband 'defamed', accused her of adultery

Dubai - Judges were provided with WhatsApp voice messages, in which the husband talks inappropriately about his wife to their daughter and her parents

A Dubai-based woman was granted divorce after her husband of 15 years repeatedly accused her of adultery in front of their teen daughter.

The Lebanese woman, 37, filed for divorce following several incidents in which her husband, 39, accused her publicly of cheating on him.

The court was told that the man stopped providing for his family two years ago and no longer paid their villa's instalments or covered their daughter's school fees.

“He shamed my client in front of her daughter and parents,” the woman’s Emirati lawyer Mohammed Al Najjar said. “When she asked for divorce, he defamed her to her workmates and advised them to abandon her.”

Judges were provided with WhatsApp voice messages the husband sent to his in-laws and daughter, talking inappropriately about his wife.

Al Najjar told the court records of the Family Guidance Section that while trying to reconcile the couple, the man claimed his Maronite faith would take years to approve the divorce and asked for money in return for divorcing his wife.

After the Dubai Court of First Instance rejected the wife’s divorce plea, the case was taken to the Dubai Court of Appeal.

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“My client has been paying living costs and the house and his car fees,” said Al Najjar. “He even involved their daughter in the dispute, prompting his wife to move to a rented apartment despite owning half of the villa.”

The Dubai Court of Appeal overturned the initial verdict and granted the woman divorce and custody of her daughter.

It also ordered the man to pay a monthly alimony of Dh5,000.

• Dubai