Sharjah: An Arab woman prisoner who had lost all hope in life after a series of misfortunes besieged her, including the amputation of all her toes, is grateful to Sharjah Police for putting her life back together, by providing her with prosthetic feet thanks to which she is able to walk again without the need for support.
The woman prisoner, identified as B.N., 40, is a mother of two boys aged 13 and 4. Her elder son has Down’s syndrome.
Residing in the UAE for the past 18 years, B.N. entered the Sharjah Punitive and Rehabilitation Centre on August 11 this year. She was sentenced to one year in jail followed by deportation after pleading guilty to the charge of adultery. The man who she claimed was her husband also received a jail term of one year followed by deportation.
Looking back at the path that eventually led her to prison, B.N. told Gulf News that she was divorced and had remarried (the man who is also in jail). The two, along with her sons, lived in Ajman and then moved to Umm Al Quwain.
Soon after, their passports went missing, she told Gulf News. She thought she could obtain new passports from their embassy in the UAE but she was informed that for that to happen, the couple would have to travel to their country of origin to obtain new passports. Since they couldn’t do so, they also failed to obtain an attestation of their marriage document, she said.
By this time, B.N. was pregnant and, one day, well into her pregnancy, she had a miscarriage when she was in the shower. She was rushed to Umm Al Quwain Hospital where she was asked for her identification papers. Failing to produce them (including her marriage certificate), the hospital authorities reported the matter to the police who placed her under guard and her partner (who B.N. claimed was her husband) was taken into police custody on charges of adultery.
At the hospital, she suffered excessive bleeding and went into a coma for eight days. After coming out of it, when she inquired about her baby, she was told that her baby had died. The shock of hearing this news sent her into another coma for 12 days.
Due to her miscarriage, and a partial retention of the dead foetus in her womb, she suffered from complications due to the infection that had set in. She developed diabetic foot gangrene that eventually led to the amputation of all her toes on July 28.
On August 11, she was taken to the Sharjah Punitive and Rehabilitation Centre in a wheelchair.
“I am grateful to the Sharjah Police for the respect and dignity that they have shown me during my time of utmost misery,” she said. “Being here, I understood the true meaning of having family ties. All the staff are taking care of me and doing for me more than what a family would do. For those without hope, they are the hope.
“I have spent four months here and the medical staff [specially nurses] have monitored my condition round the clock, and provided me better care
than a hospital can provide. When I came to the centre, I was almost like a dead body. My feet were bleeding and my wounds were smelling awful.
“I owe them [specially my nurse] my life after Almighty Allah,” said B.N.
She had lost the ability to walk for months but her positive approach to life for the sake of her children — who were taken to the social services department in Sharjah — and self-belief helped her fight back.
Her children were frequently allowed to visit and stay with her.
Today, B.N., who entered the jail in a wheelchair, is now walking with any support. She has received a pardon and will soon be released from jail. Her mother and sister have been brought to the UAE so they can accompany her back to her country, along with her children, soon.
Colonel Khalifa Al Merri, director of Sharjah Punitive Establishments Department, told Gulf News that the prison has an ‘open-door policy’ and prisoners are encouraged to discuss any problems they may have with the staff. Brigadier Saif Al Ziri, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, visits the jail regularly and personally follows up inmates’ issues.
“We follow the guidelines to ensure that they all receive their full rights in rehabilitation, medical care, nutrition, and in communicating with their families and lawyers. They have the complete freedom and support of the facility and are not prevented from getting any of their rights.”
He added, “If any inmate was treated in hospital before entering the jail, we cooperate with that hospital to complete the treatment. In case an inmate suffers from cancer, we coordinate with Tawam Hospital to treat the inmate and list him/her in the pardon list [to be released when a pardon order is issued]. For instance, one inmate needs a retina implant that requires Dh20,000, so we cooperated with a hospital in Dubai, which made it available from the US,” said Col. Al Merri.
Lieutenant Colonel Muna Surour, Head of Women’s Jail at Sharjah Punitive Establishments Department, told Gulf News that this is the first serious medical case they had received in the women’s jail.
Lt Col Surour said, “I was informed about the case of the female inmate from Rasha Al Hatab, a medical staff at the Sharjah Punitive Establishments Department.
“We immediately decided to help the inmate and provide her with the necessary treatment regardless of the cost.”
Al Hatab contacted a number of hospitals and medical companies until she found one medical company that specialised in prosthesis.
The police staff obtained permission for the company employee to enter the jail and measure the size of the inmate’s feet to design special prosthetic feet for her.
