Dubai: A woman sought police help after her father beat her up when he saw her stepping out of a vehicle of a man whom she met on social media.
The Arab woman, in her late 30s, said she was afraid of her father and approached Dubai Police to seek protection.
Police placed her in the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children shelter until they could mediate the father-daughter dispute with assurances that there would be no more violence.
Fatima Al Kindi, head of the Social Support Section at the Child and Women Protection Department of Dubai Police, said the woman was living in her father’s house with his second wife and stepbrothers — but that she felt "isolated" with no friends as everyone was busy with their lives.
“She started searching for friends on social networks until she met a young man. They kept chatting until he asked her to go out with him. She went out with him and he dropped her back to the house and her father saw her stepping out of the car. He became so angry and beat her up,” Al Kindi said.
“He never did it to her before, but that incident left her in an even worse emotional state — and very sad. We put her in the shelter until we find a solution.”
Al Kindi said that they summoned the father.
Daughter in her late 30s
“The father said that he was disciplining his daughter. We sat with him to convince him that physical abuse is not the solution, especially as she is in her late 30s,” Al Kindi added.
Police convinced the father to keep his daughter in the foundation for some time until she recovers.
Al Kindi said parents should discipline their children, but without resorting to violence.
“We had similar incidents recently due to wrongful use of social networks. It is a reason behind many family disputes. But parents shouldn’t use violence as a solution to problems with their children,” she added.
