AN Asian woman is accused of illegally adopting a child by providing false information to the government.
The 41-year-old Filipina is now standing trial in Bahrain’s High Criminal Court, after she was reported to police by her own “husband”, also from the Philippines.
However, he also claimed they were never officially married.
“She called me and told me that she put my name on the birth certificate of the baby boy,” the 45-year-old claimed in his police statement.
“When I saw the baby, his features looked Arab so I got suspicious.
“When I asked her about it, she said her friend – the mother of the baby – was having an affair with a Bahraini boyfriend who was the father of the baby.
“But that woman was afraid of her employer, which is why the baby had to be registered in our name.
“This child isn’t mine and this is causing problems for my family.
“I’m not even married to this woman – and she even owes me BD3,000.”
A court-ordered DNA test has concluded that the 41-year-old was not the infant’s biological mother.
The child is now two years old and has a birth certificate issued by the Health Ministry, after the woman produced a report from a private clinic stating she gave birth on May 7, 2017.
“Both parents provided appropriate documents, which is why the birth certificate was issued,” a Health Ministry lawyer said in her statement to prosecutors.
Yet the 41-year-old maintains her innocence and has denied illegally obtaining a birth certificate.
“I married my husband in 2002 in the Philippines and then he came to Saudi Arabia in 2005 to work, while I came to Bahrain in 2009,” the secretary told prosecutors in her statement.
“We started living together in Bahrain in 2014 and we agreed to have a child together.
“In January 2017, I went into labour in our apartment in Budaiya and called my husband and friend.
“While waiting for a taxi to go to the hospital, I gave birth at home.”
She claimed she then visited a private clinic before registering the birth at the Health Ministry.
In addition, she also denied claims by her “husband” that they were not legally married, alleging that he fabricated the story because she had requested a divorce.
“I found out my husband was cheating on me by having multiple affairs,” she said.
Cheating
“He has also fathered a few children in the Philippines.
“Our relationship started becoming tense and that is why he submitted this false accusation against me – he just wants revenge because I asked for a divorce. I didn’t forge any documents and my husband is lying.”
The trial has been adjourned until June 23.
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