Dubai: A mother-of-two is appealing to the public for help to ward off eviction while her husband remains in prison in Sharjah.
Pakistani housewife Rubina Yasmin said she has been served an eviction notice over unpaid rent of Dh10,000.
She had earlier asked for her husband — jailed since 2011 for bounced cheques — to be released on humanitarian grounds as “he’s deathly ill.”
“My husband’s in jail. I have no job or family here. Where do I take my kids after getting thrown out on the street?” she wondered.
She has a 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter with husband Mohammad Masoud, who ran an air-conditioning installation company.
“We have no money, we’ve been getting by because of help from well-wishers but even they can only do so much.”
Yasmin claimed doctors who had seen Masoud had said he could be developing cancer at one stage, once suspecting him of having leukaemia.
“His skin’s peeling and he’s got swelling all over his body. He stumbles. He can’t get the kind of treatment he needs in prison. He has served his time for past bad cheques. One case in Sharjah remains for Dh154,000,” she said.
According to her, his cheques for business and rent started bouncing after payments due to him from other companies stopped.
“My husband isn’t a crook; he’s a victim of circumstances. He couldn’t pay because he wasn’t paid.”
The Dh154,000 is owed as rent, legal fees and fines related to the family’s earlier residence in Sharjah, she added.
“I’ve knocked on everyone’s door — the courts, police, municipality rent committee, landlords, charities, [Pakistani] consulate and embassy, TV, radio, newspapers — but there’s no relief.”
“It has been trial after trial for two years. We’re broken down and helpless. I can’t afford to pay for my son’s education, what will he do in the future?” she wept.
