Where's the fish? UAE judge probes runaway teen's alibi

ABU DHABI // A 16-year-old boy put into juvenile detention after his father reported him to police for running away and neglecting his studies told a court he had gone fishing.

The boy, an Emirati, told the Appeals Court he had been to sea for the weekend, but cautioned that he could not provide any fish as evidence because he had eaten what he caught - raw.

"What did you do at the sea all weekend?" Asked the judge.

"I went fishing," said the boy.

"All weekend you just went fishing?" pressed the judge. "Where is the fish?"

The boy said he took it home and ate it.

"You ate it raw?" asked the judge, adding: "So now what do we do with you, your father is upset with you and so is the court," added the judge.

The father reported his son both for "sleeping out" and neglecting his studies, but the boy said they had since reconciled.

"Then why didn't he come to tell us that?" said the judge.

The boy replied that his father was "busy with his new wife".

"And you are staying with your old mother then?" asked the judge.

The boy said he was, adding: "I went back to my studies."

The court adjourned the case until today to clarify with the father whether the pair had reconciled.

hdajani@thenational.ae