Ajman: An Arab teenager was arrested by Ajman police for a casual meeting with her boyfriend on the roof of her family home.
The 14-year-old school student was kept in police custody and later referred to a gynaecologist who confirmed she was still a virgin, her father told Gulf News.
"The police have ruined the future of my daughter as she missed the school exam. She has been in police custody since March 22," he said.
He said it was disgusting that his daughter was subjected to medical tests in a bid to establish adultery charges. The man involved in the case was arrested later from a bar in a neighbouring emirate.
"The case of my daughter was referred to public prosecutors, who refused to bail her out," the aggrieved father said, adding that his daughter was referred to the Ajman Central Jail where she was kept with adult women prisoners.
"My daughter ...is locked up with adult women. She was excellent in her studies. I don't know why they have done this to her and to me and to my family," he said.
Complaint
The police could have handled the case more sensitively, he said. "My daughter was born in 1996, she is only 14. When police called me to report along with my daughter to the CID, I was clueless about what they wanted from me and from her; I took ...[her] to police where I learnt that someone had complained against her — that she was meeting an adult man on the roof of our building. I became angry with her and told the police that I would handle the matter within the family."
However, he said, the police arrested his daughter and referred her to the public prosecutor on the charge of adultery.
"Police surprised me when they said she should go behind bars and I had to go back home without my daughter. I do not see the point in ruining the little girl's life and image."
The father said his daughter was a typical teenager who was sometimes rebellious as she sought her independence and conceded she had been in a relationship with an Arab man who was of the same nationality as them.
"He is around 25-year-old and he used to follow my daughter wherever she went. Once I complained against him to police when I learnt that he was chasing her to her school bus." The police refused to comment on the case and said it was before the Public Prosecutor and the court.
Lawyer Abdul Hamid Al Kumaiti, who agreed to defend the girl free of charge, considering her family's difficult financial situation, told Gulf News the young teenager is still in police custody.
"The Public Prosecutor refused to bail her out and the case will be referred to court soon," he said. "It is unacceptable to jail children at this age and accuse them of adultery. It is against the law to do so by any authority," he said.
