Teen who accused dad of rape holds grudge, Abu Dhabi court told

The teenage girl who accused her father of raping her merely holds a grudge against the family's lack of wealth, hears court.

ABU DHABI // A teenage girl who accused her father of raping her more than 20 times was merely holding a grudge over the family's poverty, a court heard today.

"The girl confessed before that she was angry with her father because they are very poor... the father often woke her up to clean the house and cook which drove her to hate him and plan this trap for him," the defence lawyer Dr Eman Al Jaberi told the Criminal Court.

The girl, 14, lives with her three siblings, her mother, her father AA - a security guard from Morocco, and other bachelor men in a single room.

Dr Al Jaberi argued that forensic tests on the girl proved only that she was used to having anal sex, but did not prove her father's involvement. Traces of his sperm found on her underwear and jalabeya were explainable, claimed the lawyer, because his wife admitted borrowing these garments from her daughter.

The man was reported to police by his wife. Under police interrogations the girl claimed her father had anally raped her more than 20 times. However, at a later stage of prosecution investigations the mother and daughter said they wanted to forgive him and withdraw their complaint.

The case was forwarded to the Criminal Court despite their plea. Under oath, the girl said she could not recall any incident in which her father anally raped her, but could remember only once incident involving no penetration in which she kept her underwear on.

A verdict is expected at the next hearing.