Bail for married woman found alone with man in hotel room

sharjah — A court has granted bail to a mother of two, who was sentenced in absentia to three months in jail, after she was found alone with a stranger at a hotel room in Sharjah.

The defence lawyer said that even if the woman was in ‘khulwa’ — the situation when two unrelated individuals of the opposite sex are found alone in a closed place — the charge of ‘beautifying the sin’ did not apply to her client.

Earlier, the Sharjah Criminal Court charged the woman with the offence of ‘beautifying the sin’ as per the UAE Penal Code under the title, ‘Crimes that affect religious beliefs and practices’. Such offences, if committed in public, are punishable by a minimum of one year in jail or a fine followed by deportation, for expats. If not in public, they can still bring a fine or jail sentence. The offence is unique to the UAE law.

The incident happened on February 1, 2016. The accused, who was married to a UAE national, burst into tears and pleaded not guilty when grilled by the presiding judge at the Sharjah Misdemeanor Court. She told the court that she did not do anything wrong.

Lawyer’s arguments

Noora Al Hajiri, the defence lawyer, said that her client was alone with the man, but she did not commit any offence and is not guilty of ‘beautifying the sin’.

On the day of the incident, the police officials received information about the woman’s presence in the hotel at 4pm. They raided the hotel room and arrested her without getting permission from the public prosecution. The lawyer argued that the arrest was illegal as the police got permission to detain her only at 9pm. The lawyer added that the Moroccan woman met the other accused to complete the process of selling a car to him.

Al Hajiri added that her client had undergone forensic examination and the report showed that she had not committed any kind of unlawful act with the man. She explained that her client did not contradict religious ethics though she was alone with a man who was not related to her.

The lawyer requested the court to acquit the accused and lift the deportation order, also issued by the court in absentia, as her client was the mother of two Emirati kids and her daughter was having renal failure.

The court agreed to release the accused on bail and adjourned the hearing to March 21.

amira@khaleejtimes.com