Court backs wife against husband

The federal supreme court sent a strong message to husbands seeking to control their wives when it upheld a plea by a woman who refused to move into a new house with her husband.

The court rejected earlier sentences by two courts which sided with the husband, saying forcing the wife to move into that house could be harmful to her, the semi official daily Alittihad said on Wednesday.

The unnamed husband had filed a court case against his wife in Ajman following her refusal to move to a new house he rented in Hatta, Dubai. He won the case, prompting his wife to resort to the appeals court, which upheld the earlier verdict.

“The federal supreme court rejected the earlier verdict on the grounds that the accommodation arranged by the husband will not achieve a close life due to the difference in the residence of each of them and the long distance between these residences,” it said.

“The court found that bringing the wife to live close to the husband’s sister will be harmful given the existing rifts between them…therefore, the wife has the right to refuse to move to the new house and this does not mean that she is disobedient.”

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