DUBAI: In a landmark ruling, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court sentenced an Emirati couple to 10 years in prison and ordered them to pay a fine of 160,000 dirhams for physically abusing their nine-year-old daughter.
This is the first time that the maximum penalty for child abuse has been issued by a UAE court.
The case, which shocked UAE society, only came to light after doctors at Al-Mafraq Hospital raised the alarm. The child had been admitted with head injuries, which caused her to suffer 80 percent disability. Even though the father claimed she had fallen from a bike, doctors did not believe him as they also found other signs of beating, including old burn marks on her thighs.
In court, the child’s stepmother admitted to burning her thighs with a heated knife and to beating her. The father also admitted to bashing the child’s head against a wall and beating her. He claimed he did so to discipline her.
The child’s mother is divorced from the father and lives in an Arab country.
The man’s mother and brothers testified against him in court. The grandmother testified that the girl lived with her until she was five after which the father took her with him. Custody of the child will now revert to the grandmother and counselors will work on rehabilitating her.
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed visited the girl, who is still in the intensive care in Al-Mafraq Hospital.
