DUBAI // A divorced couple injured each other during a fistfight over moving out of their shared house, a court was told recently.
The 25-year-old Emirati man HG, confessed in the Dubai Court of Midemeanours. His ex-wife, the 27-year-old MH, has not yet appeared before the judge.
Prosecutors have charged both with assaulting the safety of the other. In total, the injuries they suffered required treatment for about 20 days, but did not cause any permanent disabilities.
Records show that about 4pm on September 24, the couple began fighting at the home in Jumeirah where HG lived with their children. The children and HG's mother witnessed the fight, records show.
HG said he went to the home after getting a call from his mother telling him MH had showed up wand was making a fuss. He said he arrived and found his ex-wife in his sister's room.
As he tried to take his daughter and niece outside, he said, MH began to insult him using inappropriate language.
"You b******, God's curse on you," she said, according to his testimony.
HG testified that she then attacked him from behind and started hitting him. He said that made him lose his temper, and he slapped her and threw her to the ground.
"She continued issuing insults, even as my brother took me away from her. Then I was surprised to see her sister at the door with a police patrol," he said.
He said he immediately went to Rashid Hospital for treatment.
MH, however, testified that HG sent her a text message asking her to come to the family's house to take her belongings, but not her children, although she said custody had been awarded to her.
"As I was talking to his sister about his SMS, he entered the room, insulted me, then assaulted me and banged my head to the wall several times," she said.
HG's mother hit her on the head with a hair dryer, MH said, adding that she also insulted her with inappropriate words and told her to leave the house. HG, meanwhile, hit her mercilessly, she testified.
"I called my sister and asked her to call the police," she said.
HG's mother testified that she heard MH screaming from her daughter's room and called her son to come resolve the issue.
A medical report confirmed that MH suffered injuries and bruises to her head, neck, arms, and legs, as well as swelling on her head.
The next hearing will be on November 16.
salamir@thenational.ae