Man kidnaps and takes daughter to Dubai after losing custody in home country, court hears

A man kidnapped his daughter and took her to Dubai after losing custody of the five-yearold to his former wife in their home country, the Personal Status Court was told.

“My client and her husband separated in their home country and their local court granted her custody of their daughter, but because she believed that their daughter needed the presence of both parents in her life, she willingly signed an agreement giving the father the right to see and travel with his daughter,” said Hassan Elhais, the woman’s lawyer.

He said the father took advantage of the agreement, kidnapped the girl, brought her to Dubai and prevented the mother from seeing or talking to her daughter.

According to court records, the couple, from Kazakhstan, were married in March 2010 and had their daughter the following year.

In 2014, the woman filed for divorce and custody of the child, which were granted to her by a court on July 20 the same year. The man appealed but the civil status court in Tashkent upheld the verdict.

After the divorce, the woman signed a legal, no-objection letter allowing her ex-husband to see their daughter and travel with her. The man travelled to Dubai with the girl in 2015 but never took her back, Mr Elhais said.

The man then filed a lawsuit at Dubai Personal Status Court against his former wife asking for custody of their daughter.

“We provided the court with correspondence between our client and her ex-husband, begging to see her daughter or even hear her voice and how he manipulated that and played with her motherly feelings by telling her to come to Dubai. When she couldn’t due to her pregnancy and sent her father instead, the husband left him waiting for hours and then never showed up,” Mr Elhais said.

Mr Elhais argued in court that the case was beyond UAE jurisdiction and local courts had no right to take action because a verdict had been issued in the Tashkent court.

Dubai Personal Status Court agreed, ruling that the case was out of their jurisdiction and ordered the father to return his daughter to her mother.

Mr Elhais said the father has yet to return the girl to her mother and has appealed against the verdict.

“We will be prepared at the Appeals Court and support our client,” Mr Elhais said.

Dubai Personal Status Court ruled that the case was out of its jurisdiction and ordered the father to return his daughter to her mother