Dubai: The 35-year-old father, M.Sh., who allegedly tortured his five daughters regularly for a period of one month when their mother was away in Jordan in June, is currently in police custody at the Ajman Central Jail on allegations of torturing his daughters and endangering their lives, a source from Ajman Police told Gulf News. Until his arrest, M. Sh. was working as a jail warden at the Sharjah prison.
The suspect’s two sisters are in jail too for abetting the suspect pending the results of the prosecution investigation. The three suspects allegedly tortured the five girls.
The five daughters, aged between 10 and 16, said that they were overwhelmed by the reaction of Gulf News readers who expressed their sympathy, with some of the readers pledging to support the family to lead a normal life.
The mother of the five girls, who uncovered the incident and brought it to the notice of the police, told Gulf News the family was looking forward to seeing an end to the dilemma and that the girls would like to join a school in September after they dropped out for one year when they were under the custody of their father.
The mother, identified as I.M., expressed her thanks to all those who called her in support of her daughters and said all that she wanted at this moment was to make sure the ordeal of her daughters is over and whatever pain they went through will never happen again so that they can lead a normal life like any child their age.
The 33-year-old woman recalled that the moment she got married to her ex-husband when she was 16 her life changed and turned into hell.
“My wedding day was in 1994 in Jordan, I got engaged to my husband when I was only 15 and I had my first baby when I was 16,” said I.M.
“It was an arranged marriage. I travelled with my ex-husband to live in the UAE soon after marriage,” she told Gulf News.
She said her ex-husband had been working with Sharjah Police even before they got married. “My eldest daughter was born in 1997 and the father and his family were not happy with me having a baby girl,” she said. She said her life was hard as her husband used to earn Dh7,000 a month and she tried to work to support her family but her husband used to take away all her money, leaving nothing for her and for her daughters.
“When I came to the UAE with my ex-husband we settled down in Ajman where I lived for 18 years,” she said.
I.M. said that after giving birth to the last daughter her life turned into hell.
“My ex-husband was very cruel. He used to abuse me and my daughters, especially after I gave birth to the fifth daughter,” she alleged.
I.M. said that her husband used to beat her till she bled. “My daughters used to go to school but later on their father stopped sending them to school,” she said. I.M. said that she was not even allowed to go to see a doctor if she was sick. “I lost all my teeth because I was not able to visit a doctor due to the lack of money,” she said. She said her daughters also needed to see a doctor for treatment.
“I do not want my daughters to live the life I lived. I wish that I can afford a proper and decent life for them,” she said.
She said her husband used to lock the door when he went out. “He used to beat us mercilessly in front of his family members,” she said.
I.M. said that her ex-husband divorced her in a Sharjah court eight years ago but subsequently remarried her.
“Since I had no place to go and no family to support me I was forced to continue my life with him,” she said.
I.M. said that when her e-husband used to beat her, the daughters used to cry, trying to protect their mother, but their father used to beat them with ropes, sticks and bang their heads against walls and the floor.
The mother said that four months ago an Ajman court granted her a divorce.
“Four months ago my ex-husband beat me up severely and police said that I should file complain against him to put him behind bars but I said I do not want anything I just want to get divorce and go to Jordan,” she said.
I.M, said that she got a divorce again from an Ajman court four months ago. “Police forced him to stay away till I leave the country but even after the divorce he came back home and he forced me to have sexual relations with him,” she said.
She said that her ex-husband started beating her again in front of her daughters, pulling her by her hair to the room and forcing her to have sex with him despite the fact that they were officially divorced.
“My life is hell. I wish I can have a respectful and proper life,” she said.
She said that she took her daughters to Jordan.
“I have no one to support me and my five daughters back home,” she said.
She said that the Ajman court told the husband that he should send his daughters Dh2,000 per month but he never did.
“I was forced to send my daughters back to their father where he started torturing them day and night,” she said.
I.M, said that her daughters are scared to death of their father.
The terrified girls said that their father would kill them as he and his two sisters used to threaten them with a knife, saying that he will slaughter them.
“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 to find out 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.
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 about their father and his sisters.
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 the public prosecution how they were bound and silenced, and forced into physically exhausting positions for extended periods of time.
The police forensic laboratory report shows scars, bruises and burns on different parts of the bodies of the five sisters.
The mother who came to the UAE on a tourist visa says her visa has expired.
“I cannot go back home with my daughters because I cannot support them by myself. I wish I can find a proper job, even as a cleaner in a school, to support my daughters,” she said.
