UAE | Crime
Pestering punks: Karama community terrorized
A group of unruly boys is making life unbearable for residents in a Karama community
- By Jay B. Hilotin, Chief Reporter
- Published: 00:00 February 4, 2010
- Image Credit: xpress/pankaj sharma
- Delinquent juveniles have been vandalising walls and picking up fights with residents around some old and new apartments in Karama, above and right
DUBAI : Illegal graffiti on the walls of run-down and brand new residential buildings in Karama's Community 318 are tell-tale signs of misplaced creativity or brewing trouble among neighbourhood juveniles.
Residents on Street 39 and 14D call the juveniles "punks" — referring to young boys who gather during late afternoons and reportedly pester residents as a way to kill boredom — or to get a kick out of messing around.
"I've been living in the same place for the past 28 years, and it's only now that I've seen this kind of phenomenon," an Asian resident said. He added that one of the punks touched his sister's back as she was walking to their flat on her 25th birthday recently. "People don't usually want to involve the police," he said. "But if you see something this bad going on in front of you, you can't live with it. I've complained to Al Ameen [hotline for reporting crime to the police] and cops talked to my sister but the boys simply run away."
Pavitra, who runs a video shop on Street 37B, said: "They [juveniles] are a big problem, shouting and bossing around in this place. Many times the police have come but they've run away," he said.
Besides vandalising walls, the punks reportedly pick up unnecessary fights with Asian residents in the area, sometimes spitting at them to provoke anger.
"Last month, a big fight erupted when one of these punks poked a sharp object into one of the Asian boys walking across the road," said another resident.
"The situation is getting out of hand. Innocent people are getting harassed by this group who hang out next to an internet café. They throw their weight around," said a grocer on condition of anonymity.
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