DUBAI // A father endangered the lives of his 10-month-old twin daughters and wife by cutting off the power to their flat and leaving them to swelter in summer heat, a Dubai court heard on Thursday.
Egyptian businessman A T, 32, was also said to have assaulted his wife N L, 28, once putting her head down the toilet, and refused to give her money to support their children.
At Dubai Court of Misdemeanours, he denied charges of endangering the lives of his daughters and his Moroccan wife, and of abandoning his daughters by refusing to provide money.
The wife’s aunt, A A, 35, told prosecutors that she stayed with the family in April last year and regularly saw him assault his wife.
“He once put her head inside the toilet and refused to give her money she could spend on her daughters,” the aunt said.
She said that in August last year he cut off the power to the flat and left the babies and his wife in sweltering conditions for two days to force her to move in with her sister in Sharjah.
She said her niece stayed for a while in Sharjah but returned to the flat.
“But when she returned he kicked her out, not giving her a chance to gather her belongings,” the aunt said.
She said her niece found herself on the street with her babies and no money, so she reported her husband to police.
The owner of the flat testified that the defendant had switched off the power because he did not have Dh4,613 to pay his electricity bill.
“I told him not to do so for the sake of the babies but he didn’t care,” said the Jordanian, B A.
The defendant told prosecutors his wife of four years had filed a malicious complaint against him after an argument.
“It was Dewa [the electricity authority] who cut off the power, not me,” he said, adding that his wife left the flat of her own will, not because he forced her.
“We had a fight earlier about a text message I found on her phone coming from a Saudi number and I was asking who had sent it to her, so we fought,” he said.
The husband said he did everything to care for his twin daughters. But the wife said they fought because he was having an affair.
“He often assaulted me and I once tried to kill myself,” she said.
The man was found guilty of the charges and fined Dh2,000.
salamir@thenational.ae
