DUBAI // A woman and her friend pretended to be married so she could be admitted to hospital to give birth to another man’s baby, a court has heard.
Indian D?D, 27, has been charged with having sex outside of marriage. She claims she got pregnant by her boyfriend on a trip to India.
She went into labour on August 13 this year and was taken to Dubai Hospital by her friend F?A, 37, a Pakistani.
She told prosecutors he was not the father but because hospital staff refused to admit her without her husband, they pretended to be married. When she gave birth to a girl, they were asked to submit their marriage certificate to register the child. They then confessed they were not married.
The woman was arrested and told prosecutors the baby was conceived during a trip to India.
She found out she was pregnant after returning to Dubai and did not know what to do because her lover had broken up with her.
"[F?A] is my friend and is willing to marry me but he is not the father," she told prosecutors.
Her friend, who turned himself in to police, was charged with failing to report the sex outside of marriage and the pregnancy.
Both admitted lying to hospital staff but said they had not planned to do so.
The friend told prosecutors he met the woman two and a half years ago and fell in love with her before knowing she had a boyfriend in India for four years.
Neither the man nor woman appeared at the Misdemeanours Court yesterday to enter a plea.
The next hearing was scheduled for December 10.
salamir@thenational.ae
