Court annuls marriage after online lies, child stays with mother

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

False claims of child abduction and abuse posted online have led the High Civil Court of Appeal to annul a church marriage between an American man and his Malaysian wife.

The couple’s three-year-old daughter will remain in her mother’s care.

The ruling, overturned a lower court’s decision that had dismissed the husband’s divorce petition.

The appeal court found the marriage had broken down beyond repair and ordered it dissolved.

It rejected the father’s request for custody on the grounds that the child’s welfare would be better served by staying with her mother.

Criminal complaint

The husband had filed a criminal complaint after the wife created a social media page accusing him of being wanted by police in connection with child abduction, molestation, domestic violence, drug offences, and prostitution.

The case ended with a BD50 fine issued against her in January by the Public Prosecution for defamation, insult, and misuse of communication tools.

The couple were married in a church ceremony in June 2021.

Civil procedures

Their daughter was born later that year in November. Under Bahrain’s civil procedures for non-Muslims, the court applied American family law.

The applicable provision allows divorce where marriage has become unbearable due to sustained conflict or personal differences that rule out any chance of reconciliation.

The husband submitted documents including the marriage certificate, extracts from US law, the birth certificate of the child, and material related to the criminal case.

He also produced a colleague who testified that the husband had shared with him audio recordings and messages indicating marital troubles, though he had not witnessed any physical abuse.

Damage

The court accepted that the public allegations and the criminal complaint had caused lasting damage to the marriage.

It ordered the marriage annulled and directed that a formal divorce certificate be issued.

However, it ruled against the husband’s custody claim.

The judges found the child’s best interests lay with the mother, citing US legal provisions which place the welfare of the child above all else in custody cases.

Defence witnesses stated the mother had continued to care for the child while the father had travelled abroad.

Proof

One of her lawyers, Taqi Hussain, submitted proof of her conversion to Islam and contested the father’s version of events.

Both parties were represented by legal counsel throughout.

The court ordered the mother to cover the legal costs for both tiers of litigation, including BD50 in lawyer’s fees and BD10 for the execution of the ruling