Dubai: Parents must contact the police if their teenage children have been involved in fights with other youth and when they suspect that trouble could be brewing, a senior official has said.

Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Deputy Commander of Dubai Police, called on police officers to tighten monitoring and arrest procedures on any person, especially teenagers seen carrying sharp objects.

This follows the recent and gruesome murder of a 13-year-old boy, Ali Mohammad.

Maj Gen Al Mazeina said any minor found with a sharp object, such as a knife or blade, that minor and his or her parents would be forced to sign an undertaking to the effect that they will not carry such dangerous objects again.

He added that any minor found to be in violation would be sent to court. He also called for such behaviour to be curbed.

Ali was stabbed to death by a group of teenagers out to settle a score with his older brother. Ali's brother had earlier on sparked a heated argument after directing sarcastic remarks towards one of the teenagers.

The group of teenagers decided to teach Ali's brother a lesson. As they plotted, they met young Ali walking in his neighbourhood with friends.

The five teenagers, aged between 15 and 17 years, are believed to have been involved in the fatal attack.

Two of them, who were carrying knives, are alleged to have stabbed the young boy a total of 11 times.

The five suspects were arrested a few hours later in different parts of Al Warqa and Al Rashidiya.

Maj Gen Al Mazeina blamed both the parents of the suspects and the victim for what happened to Ali.

"[The] parents of the suspects are completely responsible for what happened to Ali as they did not raise their children well," he said.

"The parents of the victim knew there was an argument going on between one of their children and the suspects. They should have contacted the police as the teenagers had fought previously and no one reported the previous incident to the police."

Isolated cases

According to him, such crimes are isolated incidents and are not considered a problem in Dubai.

A similar incident happened four years ago when a teenager was the victim of the fight but since then, nothing major has been recorded in Dubai, he said.

According to Dr Mohammad Murad, Director of the Decision Support Centre at Dubai Police, cases involving minors are under control and they are not a problem in Dubai.

He, however, told Gulf News that peer pressure and influence from ill-mannered people were the major causes of violent arguments and fights involving teenagers.

“We try to create as much awareness as possible in schools through our holistic safety and security education in schools. The Juvenile Association has a hotline round the clock to deal with any cases related to minors,” he said.

Cases dealt by the association are confidential and are handled by social workers and psychologists including abuses, he said.

Juvenile Association Hotline number: 04 334 7000