Man banned from taking wife with mental age of between four and eight out of care facility to have sex with her
Judge ruled women, who was in polygamous Islamic marriage, was unable to give consent
Heather Saul
Thursday 18 December 2014
A man in a polygamous Islamic marriage has been banned from having sex with his wife after a judge ruled she was unable to give consent.
Mr Justice Mostyn was asked to consider whether the woman, who The Mirror reports is 39-years-old but has the mental age of between four and seven, should leave a care facility and return home.
Her Bangladeshi husband, who is also married to another woman, had wanted his wife of 18 years to be cared for at her home in London.
He had said it was his right to have sex with his wives - providing they had the mental capacity to consent - and said it was their duty to submit.
The judge, who said the polygamous marriage was valid under Islamic law but invalid in the UK, concluded that woman did not have the mental capacity to "make the decision to have sex".
And he said it would not be in her best interests to return home, saying she “has barely an inkling of the health risks involved” and “had virtually no idea how her babies came to be in her tummy (as she put it)”.
Mr Justice Mostyn said it was "heartless" of the husband to make her pregnant again after the elder children were taken into care, knowing that the child would be taken away at birth.
Detail has emerged in a written ruling by the judge following a hearing in the Court of Protection - which analyses issues relating to sick and vulnerable people - in London.
Mr Justice Mostyn had been asked to make decisions by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which has responsibility for the woman's welfare.
Additional reporting by PA
