ABU DHABI // A man who reported his ex-wife to police after seeing her go into an apartment with an unknown man has been ordered to pay a Dh20,000 fine, the Appeals Court has ruled, after it was discovered she had been married to him for four years.
The Palestinian, IK, has been divorced from the mother of his son and daughter, also a Palestinian, for years.
He accused her of being alone with a man who was not a family member, while she was caring for their children. He claimed they made an agreement four years ago that his children would live with him, even though she still had custody of them.
On the day of the incident IK said he saw his ex-wife enter a house other than the custody apartment he rented for her with the unknown man, so he reported her to the police.
However, when police arrived they discovered the man was her new husband whom she had been married to for more than four years and public prosecution dismissed the lawsuit.
The ex-wife and her new husband insisted on filing a false-report lawsuit against IK.
He was acquitted by the Court of Misdemeanors, but convicted on Tuesday by the Appeals Court.
Case files show that he paid her around Dh250,000 in allowance since they divorced, which he said he would not have done if he was aware of her new marriage.
Prosecutors said that IK had filed a custody lawsuit against her during the same period of the incident, which means revealing her new marriage was in his favour.
IK’s defence lawyer argued that the custody lawsuit was filed because the mother left her children with their father for four years while she was benefiting from the allowance money.
He claimed she did not request to see their children since the divorce although the arrangement gave her the right to see them weekly.
The marriage was added as a factor in dropping her custody of the children after the incident occurred and her new marriage was discovered.
IK said he will appeal the verdict at the Court of Cessation.
hadajani@thenational.ae
