Social workers grapple with case of teenage girl who hit mother

A teenage girl who "wants to enjoy the freedom of youth" regularly slaps her mother and threatens to commit suicide whenever her parents try to discipline her, a police source has said.

A social worker from Dubai Police Human Rights Department, who did not want to be named, said they rarely came across cases where children hit their parents.

"We received this case at the end of last month, and we are still working on it. The girl's father is a 60-year-old UAE national who was a school bus driver at the Ministry of Education."

The source added the girl's mother is a 40-year-old Indian.

"She has eight children, five girls and three boys, and this 17-year-old girl is the eldest. Her parents came to me seeking help because she is creating lots of problems for her family.

"This girl wants to enjoy the freedom of youth. She leaves her house at 3pm every day and doesn't return home till 11pm.

"She always says she visits her girlfriends, but her family suspects she might be having illegal relationships with men," the police source said.

The source added whenever her mother tried to stop her or advise her, the teenager slapped her. After looking into this case, they found her father was the root of the problem.

"He has 3 wives, and has about 30 children. With his low income, and all these children he never has time to look after them or raise them properly. This girl's mother lives separately in Dubai, while the other two wives share a house in Sharjah."

The source said when the girl was younger her father fought with her mother at night, he then knocked on his children's bedroom door and told them bad things about their mother.

"The father would beat the mother in front of his children, and tell them their mother was not a good woman and had many illegal affairs with other men, thus they don't respect her at all."

The problem is the teenage girl is the eldest, and she may affect her younger brothers and sisters as well, the social worker said.

"Once, when her father caught her doing something wrong and beat her she decided to end her life.

"She drank washing detergent and was admitted to hospital. Since then, she has threatened to commit suicide if her parents beat her or stop her from going out.

"She has also threatened to leave a suicide note saying her parents are responsible for her death," the source said.

The source added the case was very complicated because the girl had no respect for her mother.

"Thus, we are now trying to focus on the father. The father should tell his daughter that whatever he said about her mother was not true.

"We are waiting for the girl to finish her school exams, and then I will visit them at home and talk to her. Hopefully, we will find a solution to this case."

"The father would beat the mother in front of his children, and tell them their mother was not a good woman ... , thus they don't respect her at all."