DUBAI // A 27-year-old woman who pretended to be her sister when admitting herself to hospital to give birth was jailed for three months at Dubai Criminal Court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said that K H, who holds a Comoros Islands passport, wrote down her sister’s name and phone number on the admission paper at Latifa Hospital instead of her own, though court records did not state why.
The woman, who showed up in court in prison uniform while holding her baby, confessed to charges of forgery by adding her sister’s details instead of her own on an official document and with using the forged document.
She confessed to prosecutors that she headed to the hospital while in labour on August 16 last year and, when asked for her name by a nurse, she gave her sister’s.
“She was in labour when she arrived and I wrote down her details, she gave me her name,” said nurse R K, whose nationality and age were not given. “I asked her if her husband was with her but she said no and that she can admit herself. I then carried out the necessary checks and admitted her.”
The nurse later checked the system for the patient’s file but she could not confirm her identity as her face was bloated due to the pregnancy.
Only after she had given birth did the hospital realise that she had used her sister’s name.
K H was granted bail by court on her previous hearing.
She has the right to appeal the verdict within 15 days, during which she is not forced by law to start her jail term.
However, if the sentence is upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal, she will be forced to serve it.
salamir@thenational.ae