A UAE-based woman filed a lawsuit against her own father after he allegedly refused to let her marry her fiancé due to family disputes, Khaleej Times reported.
Because under current UAE marriage laws, women need the consent of their fathers or male guardians to get married, the 25-year-old was left desperate after her father stood against her marriage.
In her lawsuit, the Arab woman said her parents had been having major domestic disputes, adding that her father, who had claimed her fiancé was not the right person for her, was only rejecting the marriage because her mother had consented to it.
When all her attempts at convincing him failed, she filed a lawsuit at the Al Ain Personal Affairs Court.
In her complaint, the woman asked the judge to "grant" her permission to marry the man who had proposed to her, or to be allowed to get the consent of a male relative who would replace her father as guardian in legal documents.
The judge is yet to hear the father's testimony in the case. However, the defendant is scheduled to appear in court in the coming few weeks.
Not an isolated case in UAE courts
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Hassan Al Marzouqi, a lawyer and legal adviser, explained that several cases similar to that of the 25-year-old complainant have previously been recorded in UAE courts.
These kind of cases are also prevalent in several Arab and Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Last week, the case of a Saudi woman who filed a lawsuit against her brother because he refused to let her marry made headlines across the Arab world.
The woman, who later won the case, had her guardianship transferred to a judge who signed her marriage contract.