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UAE mother loses custody of children for changing religion

Ras Al Khaimah - The father filed a lawsuit against his wife at the Ras Al Khaimah Personal Status Court of First Instance.

The Ras Al Khaimah Personal Status Court of Appeal has stripped an expatriate mother of her children's custody rights.
The court has also ordered the defendant, an Asian, to hand over the two kids to her husband, who is staying in the country.
The higher court said that the mother lost the custody of her children on the basis of the fact that she changed her religion and became a non-Muslim.
"As such, the mother cannot keep her children, be they male or female, in her custody after they turn five years as they can understand the rites of religion."
As per court records, the father filed a lawsuit against his wife at the Ras Al Khaimah Personal Status Court of First Instance.
The plaintiff asked the court to order his wife to come back to their marital home and take away the custody rights over their children, because she converted to another religion.
The man also asked the court to prevent his wife from travelling with their children abroad.
The lower court turned down the father's request to remove the mother's custody rights, but ordered her to move back into the house that her husband had provided for her and their children to stay in.
The same court also ordered the wife to never vacate the same house without her husband's permission or for an acceptable legal reason.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, the father then approached the Ras Al Khaimah Personal Status Court of Appeal, which stripped his wife of the rights to custody of their children, and ordered them to be returned to their father's care.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com