The man allegedly said he would rather his daughter die than be dishonoured
A man in Dubai has been arrested after he prevented lifeguards from saving his daughter’s life, claiming he would rather she died than be touched by strange men.
The 20-year-old woman drowned at a beach in the UAE city when her father physically stopped two male lifeguards attempting to rescue her.
A senior policeman described the tragedy as an “incident which I cannot forget”:
“The kids were swimming in the beach when suddenly, the 20-year-old girl started drowning and screaming for help. Two rescue men were at the beach, and they rushed to help the girl,” Lt. Col Ahmed Burqibah, Deputy Director of Dubai Police’s Search and Rescue Department told Emirates 24/7.
“However, 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. It cost him the life of his daughter.”
“The father was a tall and strong man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them. He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man.”
The man was later arrested by Dubai police for obstructing the lifeguards, thus condemning his daughter to a horrific death.
UPDATE: This story came from an feature about lifeguards recalling the strangest thing that had happened to them and the incident in question is believed to have happened 20 years ago. This was not mentioned in the original report from Emirates 24/7.
