The story of an Asian father who attempted to stop rescuers from saving his drowning daughter is not new, as the incident happened 19 years ago, Dubai Police said on Wednesday. “But after a while, we saw that it was getting hotter, putting the child at risk, so we broke the glass without asking the father and rescued the boy”, he added.
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The report first published by the Dubai-based Emirates 24/7 news website and picked up by several media including AFP quoted a police official as saying the father had blocked lifeguards from saving his daughter because it would “dishonor” her to be touched by unusual men.
“This is one of the incidents which I can not forget”, Burqibah said.
Lt Col Ahmed Burqibah, Deputy Director of Dubai Police’s Search and Rescue Department, said the incident had stuck with him.
The father of a 20-year-old daughter watched as she drowned to death at a beach in Dubai.
“But there was one obstacle which prevented them from reaching the girl and helping her. “This obstacle was the belief of this Asian man who considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her”.
Col Burqibah, the man got to be forceful, physically pulling the salvage men far from the water and said he “like his girl being dead than being touched by an unknown man”. The man, who was described as being tall and strong, allegedly got violent with the lifeguards and the delay was enough to cause the girl to drown.
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The police announced that the man was arrested after the incident and is now being prosecuted for his actions. But using a decades-old story to drum up interest during a slow news day did not sit well with a lot of readers.
