DUBAI // A man facing defamation charges after accusing his estranged wife of adultery today told a court he found indecent video recordings of her on YouTube and Facebook.
AH, a 52-year-old Emirati retired armed forces officer, was arrested after sending his wife AA, 51, a number of text messages including one that read: "You are an adulteress, you are dirty and an animal."
But when officers asked him if he admitted accusing her of adultery in messages sent between January 14 to July 5 of last year, he replied that it was not an accusation, but a matter of fact. "I am certain she did those hideous acts, and I have the proof. She better shush about this for her own sake - not mine - because it was her in the indecent pornographic recordings."
The pair have been married for 13 years and have three children together, but separated two years ago, when the man claims he came across the indecent internet videos of his wife. He then left the family's house in Abu Dhabi and went to live in Dubai.
He said that after the separation his wife would not allow him to speak to his children for almost four months, saying she would often unplug the phone or change the number.
The man then asked for his two daughters, ages 10 and 12, and one boy, 7, to be tested to ascertain whether they were his. He told the Misdemeanours Court that he now planned to divorce his wife, saying that he had not previously initiated proceedings as nobody else knew about the recordings.
"She knew this would happen, she once told me that our married life would not continue and when I asked her why or if she did something awful to end our marriage she said no," he said.
His wife, who is also Emirati and is employed in the Armed Forces medical section, told prosecutors last April that her husband accused her of having sex with a man, identified in records as SA.
"I don't even know a man with that name," she said.
She said that her husband then showed her and her family members the internet video in which he claims she appears, but said that it involved only a woman with a covered face and was not her.
"I'm tired of this - he scandalised me among other people. If he has a proof, let him present it," she said during questioning by prosecutors.
Her husband said he would present the internet recordings backing up his accusations to the Sharia Court.
He warned that she would try to mislead the court by presenting pictures of herself from 2004 and 2005 to show she is not the woman featured in the video.
"She looks much different now after she lost a lot of weight and got tanned," he said.
Both said they had no intentions of settling the case outside of court.
The next hearing was scheduled for September 4.
salamir@thenational.ae
