Ajman: Five girls aged 10 to 16 had their bodies burnt with cigarette butts, noses broken and heads hit against the wall and floor during a horrific campaign of alleged abuse by their father and his two sisters, according to police reports.
Police told Gulf News that the 35-year-old Jordanian father and other members of his family, including his two sisters, were arrested on orders from the Ajman public prosecutor in connection with the torture of his five daughters.
Police said that according to police reports the girls were forced to kneel naked on the floor while the father and his sisters burnt them with cigarette butts, beat them with ropes and sticks and pierced their skin with needles.
The girls told public prosecution how they were bound and silenced, and forced into physically exhausting positions for extended periods of time.
The underfed sisters’ unbelievable ordeal came to light late last month when their divorced mother came to the UAE from Jordan to see her daughters after they sent her text messages via mobile phone about their father and his sisters who were torturing them day and night.
The police forensic laboratory report shows scars, bruises and burns on different parts of the bodies of the five sisters.
The girls’ father, identified as M.Sh, who has been working as a jail warden at Sharjah Police for more than 12 years, was arrested 20 days ago following the discovery of the girls’ torture.
Police said the two sisters of the man, identified as H.Sh., who is a divorcee, and L.Sh., who is married, who aided him in torturing the girls were also arrested.
The victims’ mother, identified as I.M., told Gulf News that she lived with her ex-husband for 18 years before she got a divorced from Ajman court four months ago.
“I married M.Sh. when I was only 16 and I’m 33 now. He used to beat me up day and night and he used to treat us as if we were prisoners under his control,” she said.
“After we got married we came to live here and all my daughters were born here,” she said.
“My youngest daughter is 10 and my other daughters are 11,14,15 and 16.”
I.M. said that her husband used to beat her till she bled and he used to force her to stand for hours on one leg. He also used to force her and her daughters to hold suitcases on their back and to kneel and stand up several times for hours.
“He never allowed us to visit a doctor till I lost all my teeth,” she said.
She said her ex-husband hates her and his daughters.
“My ex-husband blamed me for not having a son,” she said.
She said that a few days before she got her divorce he beat her and her daughters severely and then locked the main door of the house and left.
“I managed to reach the window and I saw Indian man on the street. I asked him to call the police,” she said.
She said the man came back with policewomen and policemen who released her and her daughters and called the husband.
“Police forced him to stay away till I got a divorce and I left for Jordan with my daughters,” she said.
I.M. said that she came from a poor family and her father passed away a long time ago and there was no one back home to support her and her daughters.
“For two months the father never sent any money for his daughters and I could barely survive so I decided to send them back to their father in the UAE so he could support them financially,” he said.
I.M. said that her daughters used to SMS her, asking her to come back to take them away because their father and his sisters were torturing them.
“I came back here to help my daughters and I obtained a tourist visa after borrowing money from family members back home,” she said.
I.M. said that when she arrived here she was arrested at the airport because her ex-husband had filed a case against her accusing her of attempting to commit adultery with his friend when they were married.
“I was taken to Al Nuamiya police station where I was recognised and they were aware of my ordeal,” she said.
The case was transferred to the public prosecution who closed the case due to insufficient evidence.
“I slept on Ajman beach for two days waiting to see my daughters,” she said.
She said when her ex-husband went to work she went to see her daughters.
“I saw my daughters burnt with cigarette butts, and there were bruises and scars on their body. So I went back to the public prosecutor who sent them for a medical check and ordered the arrest of their father and his sisters,” she said
The girls are not going to school and they said that they are scared from their father and his sisters.
“We do not want to see our father again. He beat us severely. He and his sisters used to force us to stay naked and they used to search our bodies including our private parts to find if we had a SIM card which we were using to communicate with our mother,” one of the terrified girls said.
“We used to stay without water and food,” said the girl.
I.M, has no place to go and no money to survive. The case is still with the Ajman public prosecution.
