A part time maid accused of adultery after giving birth without a husband, said she was married to an imam but he left the country with their marriage contract, the criminal court heard on Wednesday.
Defence attorney of RY, from Indonesia, told the court that his client had met an imam from Yemen and they agreed to wed.
“He brought witnesses and a marriage cleric and signed a fake contract, but she had no idea the contract was invalid,” he argued, “so she started a relationship with him based on the fact that they were legally married.”
He kept the contract and then left the country with it.
“The contract appeared to fulfil the required prerequisite, so even if it were invalid she should not be charged with adultery.”
As a result of the relationship RY became pregnant and was caught by the authorities after delivering her baby without legal evidence of her marriage.
Her employer, who was other than her sponsor, ES, from Egypt, was charged with recruiting someone who was not on his sponsorship.
He told the court they were in the process of shifting her sponsorship but she kept stalling and never gave them the required documents.
“We were in urgent need for a helper because of my sick son, and we were ready to carry out the legal procedures but she kept stalling,” he told the court.
“Eventually when she failed to present the documents we ended her services.”
He stressed his good intentions to the court.
As for the pregnancy, he said they were unaware of it because she did not live with them before.
“She did not tell us she was pregnant and we did not know her background.”
A verdict will be announced on July 1.
hdajani@thenational.ae
