ABU DHABI // A father accused of beating his daughter after she refused to enter a building “full of bachelors” should not have been acquitted, the Appeals Court heard yesterday.
The father was also accused of phoning his ex-wife and threatening to “slaughter” their children.
"After all the fuss made about Wadeema's Law how could the court have cleared him?" asked lawyer Ibrahim Al Tamimi, on behalf of the man's ex-wife, who has custody of their children.
Wadeema's Law is landmark UAE child-protection legislation, which is awaiting FNC approval, named after an eight-year-old girl who was tortured and killed by her father and his girlfriend in May last year.
Prosecutors said that the children had been visiting their father, A M, an Emirati, when he decided to go out for the night and left them at home alone.
“They were left with no food even, and they got hungry, so they called their mother,” said the lawyer.
The ex-wife called the man and ordered him to return to the children. He refused at first but eventually relented.
“He was angry because his night was ruined, so he took the children in the car and drove off,” said Mr Al Tamimi. “Poor them – they thought he was taking them out for dinner.”
He said the man drove the children to a remote road and parked in front of a building “full of bachelors”. He then ordered his children to go inside but his young daughter refused.
The lawyer said the father then beat and cursed at her. She escaped briefly but he caught her and knocked her to the ground where he continued beating her.
“He should thank God she tried to escape,” said Mr Al Tamimi. “What if they did agree to enter? What was he thinking? A bigger crisis would have occurred.”
The judge asked the daughter about the attack. She told him her father beat her continuously that night. The mother said the father called her while he was beating the children and threatened to slaughter them.
The father was not present in court.
The Appeals Court had previously cleared the father of assault, but both the public prosecution and the ex-wife, who is filing for civil compensation on her daughter’s behalf, appealed to the Cassation Court and the case was returned for a second hearing.
hdajani@thenational.ae
