DAD LETS DAUGHTER DROWN TO SAVE HER ‘HONOUR’

A MAN was arrested in Dubai after he fought off lifeguards trying to save his drowning daughter, telling them he would rather she die than be ‘‘dishonoured’’ by having unknown men touch her.

The father, identified only as a ‘‘tall and strong’’ Asian expatriate, wrestled with the lifeguards even as his daughter, 20, screamed for help before slipping beneath the waves for the last time, Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Burqibah, deputy director of the police search and rescue department, told the Emirates 24/7 newspaper.

‘‘The Asian father took his wife and kids to the beach for picnic and fun,’’ he said.

‘‘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.

‘‘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 father had been arrested and prosecuted for his role in his daughter’s death. It was not clear exactly when the incident took place but Burqibah said it had left a profound mark on all those who had witnessed it.

‘‘This is one of the incidents which I cannot forget. It shocked me and many others who were involved in the case,’’ he said.

‘‘She died, unfortunately, at a time when she had a chance to live, especially as the rescue men were so close to her.’’

At least 58 people, two of them Europeans, have drowned in Dubai in the first seven months of this year, according to police, with 20 of the incidents happening at night.

The majority of drownings happen on the popular tourist beach near the distinctive Burj Al Arab hotel, one of the most luxurious in the world.