Wife criticises husband for playing video games most of the time, reports him to Dubai Police

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

A GCC woman accused her husband of assaulting her after an argument between them over spending most of his time playing video games and neglecting their marital relationship.

The Dubai Court of Misdemeanours and Violations convicted him and fined him Dhs5,000 but the Appellate Court acquitted him.

The case took place in Al Safa area in Dubai in April 2022, when a GCC wife submitted a report complaining that she was assaulted by her husband.

The wife explained in the investigations that the assault followed a dispute with her husband due to his preoccupation for long periods with video games and his negligence of her. She added when she argued with him, he got angry and left the room and then came back again and was about to slap her on the face, so she reported the incident to the police.

According to the case file, the 26-year-old husband stated that his wife asked to speak with him after he performed the dawn prayer on the day of the incident and that she was angry about his spending time playing video games. He reportedly asked her to calm down, but she kept screaming and telling him that she was not comfortable for living with him.

The husband added that she started talking about matters concerning his family and that he neglected his relationship with her, so he pushed her and told her that if she did not stop her way of talking, he might lose his temper.

The medical report submitted by the wife showed that she had a bruise on the right hand and shoulder, and there were no visible injuries or permanent disability.

The appellate Court said that the case papers did not include any proof that the husband committed the crime he was charged with, especially since he denied it at all stages of the case, and accordingly, the proof presented in the case was not sufficient to convince the court to prove the accusation. Consequently, the appealed ruling must be canceled and the husband must be acquitted.