Man ‘named brother-in-law as father of his girl to stop his first wife from finding out’

DUBAI// A man who had a child with his second wife wrote down his brother-in-law’s name as the father on official documents to prevent his first spouse from finding out about the baby girl.

The 34-year-old Iraqi husband and his 25-year-old Emirati wife were married in the UAE and their child was born on February 5, 2012 in Dubai’s Zulekha hospital, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

They changed the father’s name on the birth certificate to the mother’s brother, who suffers from a mental condition. They also altered their marriage contract by replacing the husband’s name with that of his brother-in-law.

The woman’s 21-year-old sister told the court her sibling married the Iraqi and had a baby girl with him.

“Both of them forged the documents and used my brother’s name on the documents as the father,” the student said.

The couple were charged with forgery and use of forged documents. Neither were in court to enter a plea.

Prosecutors said the wife confessed to knowing about the forgeries but not to taking part in making them. She said she is now divorced from the Iraqi defendant, adding that he made the forgeries because he didn’t want his first wife to find out about his new marriage and because it was very difficult to have the birth certificates issued from the Iraqi embassy.

The next hearing will be on August 11.