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She claims her husband asked her to pay for all the bills and was equally miserly when they returned home to the UAE.

"He didn't spend a penny on this marriage," she told the court, waiving all her rights in order to get the divorce.

The woman had registered all the bills - including water and electricity - under her name at her husband's request.

He claimed he had lost his personal documents.

The marriage was further strained when the man ignored his wife, despite her buying all the furniture for their new house.

The UAE has the highest divorce rates in the region, with the government intervening to prevent Emirati marriages falling apart. The high cost of living in the UAE is believed to be one factor behind the divorce rates.

Nearly 30 percent of marriages in the UAE end in divorce within their first year, the Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre said in a report last year.