JEDDAH: A Jeddah court has backed a young man who is seeking to prove he is the son of a Saudi via a marriage the latter says ended childless 23 years ago and despite a DNA test refuting the claim. “I'm amazed,” said the purported father Abdullah on the General Shariah Court's verdict. “I was married to an Arab lady, but we had no children and it ended 23 years ago.” The plaintiff in the case is 27 years old, according to Abdullah. “He first came to me ten years ago claiming I was his father and asking me to formalize the relationship, but I didn't take it seriously. I did allow him to stay in my house with my other children, but not once have I ever felt he was my son,” he said. “I had a DNA test done which proved that he was not my legitimate son, but even still, the judge has ruled in his favor.” According to Abdullah, the judge ruled that as the plaintiff is 27 years old he “was born during a legitimate marriage”. “He rejected the DNA test on the basis of the jurisprudential principle that the plaintiff was born during a legitimate marriage and that he is, therefore, a legitimate son,” he said. “I have appealed to the Appeals Court to throw out the ruling on the basis of the DNA test.”
