Vandalism on the rise, say residents

Dubai: "Please be advised that there have been a number of vehicles reported to be damaged (scratched/spat on) while parked in this car park. It appears that person/s have taken it upon themselves to damage vehicles that are parked incorrectly," reads a notice pasted in one of the plush residential complexes in Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

Residents say the threat has worked and everyone has started parking correctly. Someone even made the comment "Robin Hood is back!"

"They are doing something bad for the good of all. I support it completely," says Abdul Hamad, a resident. He says he himself once stuck chewing gum on the door handle of a car that was parked too close to his.

But speak to Salil Kumar, and he wants people like Hamad to be punished. His new car was vandalised two months ago. "Someone used a sharp object like a key or something and left a gash about eight inches on the bumper above the rear tyre. If I ever catch that guy, I will give him a piece of my mind,' said a livid Kumar.

There are more victims of vandalism and residents say it is becoming rampant in Dubai. According to many residents, this destructive pastime is mostly perpetrated by groups of teenagers.

Om, a reader from Sharjah, said that on one occasion he found a group of teenagers sitting on his car. "Now I have a very big dent on my hood and the bumper in the back has come out of its original fitting. They would not even move when I went and opened my car door. This is a daily happening in the inside lanes of Abu Shagara," said Om.

He said he did not complain to the police because he was afraid that the culprits would repeat the act with a vengeance.

Mathew George, a businessman from Sharjah, said his red BMW was spray-painted black and his tyres deflated after he left it parked near the Buhaira Corniche three months ago.

"There is nothing much you can do about it because the people who do it are sick. They are criminals who should be punished by law. I wish the police would keep a vigil on these ruffians who roam the streets," said George.

Scraping paint off cars, smashing windows and deflating tyres are some of the most common forms of vandalism reported by residents. However, culprits also target residential buildings, lifts, door bells and public places too.

Valsala Menon said she had to get her door handle fixed three times last year after some children broke it. "This is a common happening in our building. You cannot keep anything outside the door like a decorative piece or a wind chime. These people will break it," said Menon, a housewife in Karama.

"In Satwa, where I used to live, they were a terror. They would attack pedestrians, smash car windows, break bottles and leave them on the kerb. We moved out of our apartment two years ago because we were afraid they would harm our children," said Divakar Patel, an IT consultant. Yet another form of vandalism noticed by residents, is graffiti in public places.

Have you been a victim of vandalism? What happened? Did you raise the issue with the concerned authorities? Did it help decrease incidents of vandalism in your neighbourhood?

I have been a victim of all that and my car still bears the marks off such dirty acts.
Liss
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 14:02

I live in Buhaira Corniche. Here, there is a pretty big car parking near our homes but we still find some scratches or door damages. Some people even throw food on our windshields. I think there is nothing you can do about this.
Berik Askarbayev
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 12:32

I had a similar experiance near the place I live near Mega Mall in Sharjah. I was surprised when I saw that the side mirror of my car had vanished when I got into the car in the morning.The mirror was taken out without making any damage to the case and was more surprised to know from the dealer of the spare parts that the if the mirror is pulled out the lock is broken and is of no use.
Jaffrey
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 12:14

Last year before I left to Canada, I parked my car in Karama. All my four tires were puntured as someone placed sharp nails underneath the tyres
Jerry Moras
Calgary,Canada
Posted: January 24, 2009, 11:17

I have been a victim of vandalism too but it is not the teenagers who are mostly involved in it.The only reason people get involved in it is because of lack of parking space or leaving enough distance between the cars while parking. The authorities should make sure that enough parking space is made available.
From a reader
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 11:03

I always park my car properly in my parking slot to avoid any inconvinience to my neighbors in our alley. I am still not spared this vandalism. Teenagers damaged my car and it cost me around AED 3,000 for the repair.
RRF
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 10:57

I don't think this practice is solely caused by wrong parking. A few days ago, someone scratched my car very badly with a sharp tool right on the bonnet. My car was 100 per cent correctly parked. This is an extremely unethical practice and must be penalized.
Raheem Shahzad
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 10:54

I encountered these teenagers on our building door. They're all making fun of the residents coming in and out of the building especially women. We were so scared that they might harm our children.
Margarito
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 10:03

The parking spaces in Dubai are a major cause of dents on vehicles. Not only is parking extremely expensive it is so tight that you cannot open you car door without unintentionally putting a dent in the car beside you. The authorities should leave more space for car parkings.
Arvand Pouladi
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 10:00

Horrifying stories. What has neighbourhoods come to ? Dont most of the buildings have watchmen ? Then how come these things happen? Well, why not pitch in, buy surveillance cameras, put them with recorders and direct feed to the watchmans room? And when you catch the culprits, be sure to call the police.
Peeku Punjabi
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 09:54

In the last place I Lived in, there were young people who used to sit on cars, scratch them and make dents. I have been a victim of all that and my car still bears the marks of such acts.
Raj
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 09:26

I bought a new Nissan and just as soon as I parked it outside my house, I found a lot of scratches on my car the next morning.
Sajjad
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 09:25

Children of all nationalities are involved in this vandalism and regrettably, the children of one nationality will target cars and assets of the other nationality and so on. This is becoming scary
Ashok Srinivasan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 09:20

My new car paint got scratched from day one and. It looks very bad with paint peeled off. I dont know why they do this, and I dont know when they do it.
A. John
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 09:11

This is happening in Abu Dhabi too. We are living on Airport Road close to Al Dhafra compound and found our brand new Volvo scratched with a sharp object so we had to repaint it.This is so mean. Our car was parked correctly, by the way.
Silvia
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 09:10

I have also been a victim of these acts as all my previous cars have been scratched.
Mohammad
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 08:32

Till now, I have not faced any sort of vandalism personally but I have seen others facing many of these incidents.
Sanish OMC
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 08:30

Yes. I have been a victim of vandalism not only once but twice. First, my engine hood was badly scratched with a sharp object. Second, one of my car tires was punctured. In both incidents my car was properly parked in a public parking area. I reported the first incident because I needed a police report to have it repaired.
From a reader
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 08:27

Sadly, most of these teenagers are supported by their parents. I witnessed it in a parking lot near the Iranian hospital. One woman instructed her 10-year- old kid to break the wiper of another car. Another woman, once threw her garbage on a car with the support of her other teenager.
Rohitha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 08:19

The building I was living in International City was constantly being semi-vandalized as children were breaking the fire alarm shield and setting it off constantly. I never raised the issue; just moved out of there to a better location.
Roy
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 07:27

My car has lots of scratches. These scratches mostly came from parking lots. Someone used a sharp object and scratched my car. This damaged the paint of my car and cost a lot to fix.
Suresh
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 04:45

Nothing has happened to me yet.but I believe that vandailism is unacceptable.If people are not parking correctly it should be referred to the authorities. No one should be in authority to give punisment the way they feel.
Sakib
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 04:02

I woke up one fine morning to the smashed windscreen of my brand new Pajero. I went further, i discovered about 18 more cars around my area with similar problems.
Sohaib Aslam
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 24, 2009, 02:01