Dubai: Friends of a Kenyan woman hospitalised after a brutal weekend assault in a Dubai car park are offering their prayers and support as police further probe the incident.
Esther, 26, was still listed in critical condition in Rashid Hospital on Tuesday amid visits to her trauma centre ward by friends who personally stayed by her bedside to offer what little help they could.
Friends told Gulf News Tuesday that officials with the Kenyan Consulate are gathering information about the incident and are attempting to contact Esther's family in the Mombasa area of Kenya.
Gulf News was referred by the Kenyan Embassy in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to consulate offices in Dubai but officials could not be reached by press time for comment on the early morning Saturday incident.
One suspect detained
Medical authorities have told close friends at the hospital that Esther, a former sales clerk at a major store in a Dubai mall, is experiencing diminished brain activity.
Dubai police have confirmed that one Emirati man is in custody and another released on bail following allegations by two women accompanying Esther on the night in question that an unknown assailant punched and kicked her following a skirmish.
Sam, a Kenyan national who works and lives in Dubai, visited Esther in Ward 16 at Rashid Hospital and found her unconscious in her bed, surrounded by medical equipment.
"She's still unconscious. It's devastating to see a very young lady in such a condition," Sam told Gulf News. "Esther is a happy girl, she has always lived a good life. It pains me to see such a small woman in such tragedy."
Sam said he knows some of her former co-workers and her friends in Dubai and said she is loved for her optimism, high energy and her thoughtfulness for others.
Living alone in Dubai
Esther hails from Mombassa, he said, and was living in Dubai without any family in the city for support, so close friends were even closer, he said.
"Esther is a good friend to everyone who knows her," Sam said. "She has very good energy and we're all praying for her that she will make it through this."
Another Kenyan national, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she was alarmed to hear the news of Esther's injuries and said others in the Kenyan community are shocked.
When the woman posted the news on her Facebook page, phone calls poured in yesterday from concerned family members back home.
"I've been on the phone all day, my family is calling because I put it on Facebook," she said.
News of the tragic incident has led to an outpouring of prayer in the Kenyan community in UAE estimated to be more than 30,000 people.
"People are praying for Esther, everyone is praying for her," she said.
