Prank photo lands uncle in court

Student suspended his three-month-old niece on a coat hangar before taking pictures and distributing them on his BlackBerry, hears court.

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DUBAI // A student's prank photograph of his three-month-old niece apparently suspended from a coat hanger has landed him in court.

The baby's father, an Emirati police officer, failed to see the funny side and lodged a complaint when a friend showed him the photo on his BlackBerry last July.

"She could have fallen down and got seriously hurt," said the father, 23.

The officer is divorced from the child's mother, who lives with her family, Dubai Court of Misdemeanours was told.

The mother, KM, 20, said there had been no risk to the child's life, and that she had been surprised when she received a call asking her to visit the police station.

She said the photo had been taken about six months before her husband had lodged the complaint, and that she could not remember which of her five brothers had taken it.

"He did it for fun and was holding her from behind, hiding his hand in an abaya," she said.

Her brother, NM, 18, denies endangering the baby's life. No date was set for a verdict.