Dubai: Jailed father gets to attend daughter's wedding held inside prison facility

A young Arab woman got married inside a correctional facility in Dubai with her father — a prisoner — by her side. The bride had sought assistance from the Dubai Police to have her father with her on her special day. Not only did the force grant her wish, they also gave her a special wedding gift: They helped furnish the couple's home.

After accepting the marriage proposal, the woman immediately wrote to the General Department of Punitive and Correctional Establishments in Dubai, stressing how important it was for her to have her father during the wedding.

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Brigadier Marwan Jalfar, director of the department, said they "evaluated the financial and emotional circumstances surrounding her father's presence during the preparations for her marriage, considering his role as the family's primary breadwinner".

The department invited Sheikh Ahmed Al Shihi, an Islamic marriage official, to attend and officiate the marriage ceremony.

The officer said the move is the latest in a series of initiatives to care for inmates' families. In September last year, a woman reunited with her father on his birthday after six years of separation. The police facilitated the reunion after the young woman expressed her wish to meet her father, who was jailed over some "financial issues".

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