Dentist 'broke wife's finger and told her about affairs'

Dentist is accused of beating his wife in public.

DUBAI // A dentist has been accused of breaking his wife's finger before kicking her to the ground in the culmination of years of cruelty.

The Misdemeanours Court was told the Moroccan woman SA, 32, has been married to the American dentist MR for more than four years and has two children with him - a boy, aged 1, and a girl, 3.

She said he would often beat her, but that she stayed with him for "the sake of my children" hoping he would change his ways. But he became worse.

"He became more cruel and would shamelessly tell me about his illicit relations," she said.

The wife claimed he celebrated New Year's Eve 2011 away from her and when he returned the next day he told her he had spent the time with "great women", then insulted her and threatened to throw her out of the house.

"He then ordered our cook to take my baby girl away from me," said the wife. "He grabbed my fingers and broke them, then kicked my legs until I fell down crying and in pain."

The wife said a French couple who saw the incident rushed to help her. "The woman took my daughter from the cook and brought her to me," she said.

Police arrived and the wife was taken to Rashid Hospital.

RP, 34, the couple's Nepali cook, said he did not see whether the dentist had assaulted his wife.

He said the dentist had asked him to take the girl for a walk, but the wife did not want that to happen so she grabbed her husband and started screaming.

The French tourist who intervened said he had seen the woman hanging on to the dentist's leg in a way that made it look as if she was begging but he could not understand what she was saying.

"I didn't see him [the dentist] assaulting her though," said the Frenchman.

The dentist denied assault. He told prosecutors that on the day in question he returned home to take his daughter for a short cruise on his yacht when his wife became angry.

"The cook and my daughter walked ahead of me towards the door when my wife pulled my hair," he said. "She then threw herself to the floor and screamed loudly when she saw people nearby. She told them I was kidnapping my daughter."

He told prosecutors he had filed a custody case against his wife.

A medical report said the wife had swelling in the fingersd of her right hand and that one finger was broken. It said she also had minor bruising in her legs.

The dentist was not present in court to enter a plea. The next hearing was scheduled for September 25 to summon him.