Father neglects daughter, court gives her custody to mother convicted for theft in Dubai

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Court of Cassation upheld the ruling of the Court of Appeal to send a girl, less than 10 years, to her mother’s custody and her right to alimony, despite the conviction of the mother and sentencing her to a fine and suspended imprisonment for stealing money from her ex-husband.

According to the case file, the Dubai Personal Status Court ruled that the child's father is entitled to custody of her, because the mother was convicted of stealing his money and gold estimated at Dhs160,000 and $8,000 from his home.

The child's father demanded that his daughter be put in his custody after his foreign ex-wife was convicted and sentenced to a suspended 3 months jail and fined.

The Personal Status Court ruled that the father would have the custody of the daughter and waived the alimony imposed on him.

The mother appealed the ruling, so the court cancelled the ruling of the Court of First Instance and sent the girl to her mother’s custody, and the Court of Cassation upheld the ruling.

The mother's lawyer, stated that he had provided several evidences indicating the father's failure and negligence, and the mother's caring nature towards the child during her custody.

He also provided other evidence proving that the father had refrained from seeing his daughter for more than a year, not spending on her, and causing her burns when he used to meet her.

The Court of Cassation said that after reviewing the foster care committee's report, it was proved that the environment in which the child lived in the mother's home was the most suitable for foster care, where all her needs were available, and the mother allocated a private room for her and followed up on her needs and academic achievement.

The report also indicated that the father lived in a small one-room apartment, in which his sister lived, and he lived in the hall, allocating a place for the child to sleep in his sister’s room, which the child refused.

The Custody Committee recommended the continuation of the custody of the child to the mother, especially at this age.