Father ordered to return 'kidnapped' daughter

The man took his daughter after losing custody to his ex-wife.

Dubai - According to court records, the couple got married in March 2010 and had their daughter the following year before separating in 2014.

Published: Fri 21 Jul 2017, 9:23 PM

Updated: Sat 22 Jul 2017, 8:02 PM

By
Sherouk Zakaria

A Dubai court has ordered a man to return his five-year-old daughter to her mother after he kidnapped and brought her to Dubai from Kazakhstan.
The man took his daughter after losing custody to his ex-wife.
Hassan Elhais, the mother's lawyer from Al Rowad Advocates and Legal Consultant, said the couple had separated after disputes and their local court granted the wife custody of the girl.
But despite the separation, she signed a no-objection letter, allowing the father to see his daughter and take her outside.
"The father broke the agreement and took the girl to Dubai, preventing her mother from seeing her or even talking to her," said Elhais.
According to court records, the couple got married in March 2010 and had their daughter the following year before separating in 2014.
Shortly afterwards, the wife filed for divorce and custody. Their local court granted her both in July 2014. The husband appealed the verdict but the civil status court in Tashkent upheld the sentence.
He then took the child in 2015 for a visit to Dubai but never sent her back. The man allegedly asked the mother to come to Dubai and get her daughter, knowing that she wouldn't be able to come due to her pregnancy. The mother then sent her father, who waited for hours without the man showing up.
Elhais added that the man wrote to his ex-wife saying that their daughter is the one refusing to return. "He filed a lawsuit in the Dubai courts, asking for the custody of their daughter. But we provided the court with evidence that the mother has been begging her ex-husband to let her see her daughter," stated Elhais.
"We also argued that the case is out of jurisdiction and UAE courts have no legal right to take action in such case." The Dubai Personal Status Court ruled that the case is out of their jurisdiction and ordered the man to return their daughter to her mother.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com