Man breaks ex-wife's thumb in argument over plant pot

Dubai Court of Misdemeanours sentenced the man to two months in jail and fined him Dh5,000

A man who broke his ex-wife’s thumb during an argument over a plant pot will spend two months in jail.

The 45-year-old man and his ex-wife, both Emirati, have been divorced for 14 years but court records showed that the man and his new wife live in an extension of the villa he shares with his ex-wife in Al Qusais.

In March last year, the two were arguing over the placement of a plant pot in the garden when the incident occurred.

"He complained all the time about me placing it in the middle of the garden right outside the villa's door and said that it's too big to be placed there. I didn't want to move it,'" said the 40-year-old  ex-wife, who also said they often argued about the pot.
The woman's Sri Lankan housemaid told prosecutors that the man pushed the plant pot towards her employer in a fit of rage.

"I then saw her bleeding from the hand and noticed that her thumb was almost chopped off," the housemaid said.
The woman called police and was taken to Rashid Hospital to be treated for a deep cut and fractured thumb. The hospital told her she would lose all mobility in her thumb.

During police questioning, the man denied assaulting his ex-wife saying the incident was an accident.

“She had been creating problems from nothing since I remarried and when she placed this large pot blocking our path, I asked her to move it but she refused,” he man said.

He told police he tried to move the pot himself but the woman held on it.

“It’s very heavy, I couldn't keep hold of it, so it fell and hurt her,” he said.

On Wednesday, Dubai Court of Misdemeanours convicted the man of assaulting his ex-wife and sentenced to two months in jail and fined him Dh5,000.