Mother, convicted for theft, wins custody of minor daughter after court finds father's housing inappropriate for child

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

An Arab national man has filed a lawsuit requesting the custody of his daughter, after his ex-wife, who was from a Western country, was convicted of stealing money and gold bars, valued at Dhs139,000, and was sentenced to a fine and imprisonment of suspended 3 months.

The husband obtained a ruling from the Personal Status Court to have custody the daughter, who was younger than 10, and to drop the alimony imposed on him.

The court of first instance ruled that the husband had the right to have the custody of his daughter, drop the alimony, and obligated the mother to hand him all the documents and papers related to his daughter.

The mother appealed the ruling of the court of first instance and the case file was referred to the Custody Committee to prepare a comprehensive report on the mother’s and father’s homes, and the appropriateness of the environment in which the child lives.

The ruling issued by the Appellate Court mentioned that, after reviewing the report of the Custody Committee, it was found that the environment in which the child lived in the mother’s home was the most appropriate for her, where all the special needs of the girl were provided, and the mother allocated a special room for her daughter and followed up on her needs and academic achievement.

The report issued by the same committee also clarified that the father lived in a small one-room apartment with his sister living in it, but he lived and slept in a hall and allocated a place for the girl to sleep in the same room with his sister, which the girl refused.

The Custody Committee recommended the continuation of the custody of the girl to the mother, especially at that age.

The court affirmed that the child’s interest required the continuation of custody with the mother.