Pinoy couple in UAE fights conviction over premarital sex

A Filipino couple is appealing a three-month prison sentence and deportation order slapped on them by the Dubai Misdemeanors Court for supposedly having sex out of wedlock in Dubai, a report on Gulf News said.
The couple were convicted in April, or months after the woman was rushed to a hospital in December for pregnancy-related pains.
According to the report, the 28-year-old woman told medical staff that she and her 27-year-old partner were engaged and not married when asked on the whereabouts of her baby's father following checkups.
Her partner was arrested after the hospital -  which declared the couple's child dead on arrival -  notified police of their situation.
Sex and pregnancy outside marriage are illegal in the UAE.
The couple told judge Adnan Al Farra of the Dubai Court of Appeals that they were married at the time of the incident and were backed by their lawyer Eisa Bin Haider.
In her testimony, the Filipina said she and her husband came from the same province in the Philippines, knew each other for eight years, and lived in her partner's residence at Dubai Gardens.
She added that she did not know of her pregnancy until a few days before her medical emergency.
Bin Haider handed a photocopy of the couple's marriage contract to Al Farra and asked the court for an adjournment until the couple can have their Philippine marriage contract notarized and submitted to the court.
Their couple's trial will continue at a later date, the report said. —Rie Takumi/KBK/KVD, GMA News

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