UAE Helping Hands: Woman who fled abusive husband does not have money for food

A S is appealing to the public to help her find employment so she can survive. 'I have no-one. My family have all died... I can’t go back to Pakistan because my ex will kill us. I have no savings, no job and soon I’ll be on the streets.'

ABU DHABI // A Pakistani woman ran for her life and came to the UAE in 2009 to escape an abusive ex-husband who, she says, was determined to kill her.

A S left everything behind and took her then six-year-old son in the middle of the night to escape her ex-husband who was at the time “firing a gun at my house,” she says.

It all began, she says, a few years after her marriage when her entire family died in a fire in Pakistani. She was 21 years old.

“I had just been married and my in-laws were not very nice but they didn’t have the courage to lay a hand on me because my father was still alive.”

After the death of her parents and two younger siblings, the situation changed drastically. A S because the sole heir to her father’s fortune and her in-laws began to physically abuse her to force her into giving them her inheritance.

Recalling the abuse she says: “You will never imagine the torture - they would lock me up in the bathroom for days, sedate me, beat me, starve me.”

A S had just given birth to a son who was has also abused. “They used to burn his private parts so I would sign the papers,” she says.

She agreed to give up her inheritance in return for a divorce and the custody of her son.

“I didn’t care about the money but I couldn’t watch them torture my son.”

A S was divorced in 2004 and moved out. The US educated mother with an MBA in finance found a job at a bank and was finally free from the abuse.

However a few years later, her ex decided that he wanted his son back. “He began calling me and threatening me. He said he would kill me unless I gave him my son.”

On the day that she woke up to gunshots, A S fled.

“Luckily I had my cousin’s sister in Dubai and she sent me a visa so me and son could come and spend a few days with her.”

A S, now 41, says she left everything and immediately went to the airport in the middle of the night.

“I came with nothing and knew no one in Dubai.”

Her distant relative in Dubai had left for Canada. In spite of that, A S managed to find a job and a small flat.

“I put my son in school and I was fine until three years ago.” A S was laid off from her job and has been using her savings to support her herself and her son. Today she says, her savings have run out and she does not have money for food. She lives off the charity of friends and neighbours.

Her landlord has filed a case against her for Dh62,500 in unpaid rent.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m looking everywhere for a job.”

Every morning she leaves her one bedroom apartment looking for employment.

“Its not right to live off other people’s money when I am capable of working.”

A S is appealing to the public to help her find employment so she can survive.

“I have no-one. My family have all died. I’ve washed and put my sister and mother in their coffins. I can’t go back to Pakistan because my ex will kill us. I have no savings, no job and soon I’ll be on the streets,” she says.

Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of Zakat and social services at Dar Al Ber, says: “AS needs D62,500 to pay off her debts and a job to able to support herself and her son. She refuses to live off charity but she needs assistance to able to that.”

How to donate

Call the hotline at 0502955999 or send a WhatsApp message to the same number. Donations can be made by depositing the amount at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank account, Iban number AE9805 000 000 000 11530734 or Dubai Islamic Bank account, Iban number AE8002 4000 352 0443 1952 01. Donations go towards paying their medical care.

Dar Al Ber Society was established in Dubai in 1978. The charity was one of the first non-profit organisations in the UAE and its mission is to provide those in need with humanitarian assistance.Up to last year, 126,000 families received aid from Dar Al Ber.

There were 838,000 beneficiaries of its iftar project, 292,000 people helped through its Zakat Al Fitr programme and more than 29,000 beneficiaries for Keswat Al Eid. The charity also funds cultural projects at home and abroad. Helping Hands is another initiative, and a portal for Dar Al Ber in cooperation with The National.