Grandmother on trial for biting Dubai policeman's hand

Dubai - She was trying to visit her detained daughter and stopped by the police officer.

A grandmother was chared with assaulting a police officer and biting his hand, besides damaging property.
The 55-year-old woman was fined Dh10,000 by the Court of First Instance, after which the public prosecution moved the case to the Dubai Court of Appeal on the grounds that the first penalty was too lenient. She now faces one year of jail and a Dh50,000 fine if found guilty.
The woman had paid a visit to Rashidiya Police Station on September 22, 2017, outside the designated visiting hours, to see her detained daughter; she tried knocking the detention centre's door and tried to push it open.
When the policeman informed her that she could not visit her daughter at the current time and barred the door with his arm to prevent her from entering, the woman angrily bit his hand. She further resisted arrested and caused him to knock into a glass table worth Dh400, breaking it.
The policeman called a female police officer to control the defendant, who then attacked them both and said: "Bawareek" ('I will show you who I am').
The woman pleaded not guilty in court. The defence lawyer then requested to interrogate the Rashidiya Police Station director and two other officials.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, the woman said she had received a phone call from her daughter, who was in detention following a dispute incident with her husband. Her daughter cried on the phone and asked her mother to come immediately and bring her diabetes and blood pressure medications, saying that she would die in detention if her mother did not get there soon.
The woman stated she went to the station and waited for two hours, trying to see her daughter but she was not allowed to.
She then rushed to the detention area and rang the bell repeatedly, but when she tried to enter the area, the policeman verbally insulted her and she did the same. Then, she states, he dealt with her violently and handcuffed her, during which the table got knocked over.
She then spent the night in the detention centre and was released in the morning, but she states that no one interrogated her or informed her that the issue would be taken to court.
As she was sentenced in absentia on October 19, 2017, the woman did not attentd the court hearing. She told Khaleej Times that was not aware of the Dh10,000 fine sentence by the court either and travelled out of the country. Only when she returned was she stopped at the Dubai airport and told about the fine.
Her defence lawyer, Mohammad Al Awami Al Mansouri, said in his defence sheet that the policeman reported the incident after 15 hours and referred it to forensics after 5 days. While the forensic medical report said there was a scratch on the policeman's left finger, the lawyer argued in court that there was a lack of evidence as the policeman did not submit CCTV camera footage.
He requested the court to instruct the Rashidiya Police Station to supply CCTV footage of the incident.
amira@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai