UAE couple jailed for sex outside of marriage

ABU DHABI // A couple have been sentenced to six months in prison and deportation for having sex outside of marriage.

RY, from Sudan, claimed at his first hearing at the Criminal Court that he was married to ED, from Ethiopia, but had simply not registered the marriage contract.

However, when the court asked the woman, who is pregnant with the man's child, whether they were married she said they were not.

At the following hearing the man's lawyer Fayza Moussa said she had lost patience with her client as he kept changing his story.

"He keeps lying to me, I request the court to ask him once and for all if they are married or not."

The man then admitted the pair were not married.

The woman was sentenced to an extra month in prison for residing in the country illegally.

hdajani@thenational.ae