10-year-old Abu Dhabi girl hasn't stepped out of her tin-roofed home in years

A 10-year-old girl has never stepped out of her tin-roof home in Abu Dhabi City for the most part of her life. She had to stop schooling in Grade 2 and has got no friends. And the saddest part is she has seen her parents being often jailed.
"The outside world is dangerous. I never go out. I am happy with my friends inside this laptop cartoons. I haven't seen my mother for long. I hope she will be back to take care of me," Maleha said.
Maleha is the daughter of Indian expats Faizal A. and Bindu - parents who had well-settled jobs. But the lure of business and the incompetence to run it saw them spend more time in jail than with their daughter. Her mother is jailed for years now over cheque bounce case. Her father is out of jail but his visa expired seven years back. Maleha has a valid passport but no visa or Emirates ID. Daily existence is a struggle for this family but Maleha's main concern is to see her mother. And amnesty scheme has given the family new hope. 

Recession-hit lives

Faizal came to the UAE in 1995 and worked as an engineer for nine years. It was a chance meeting and interaction with Bindu, then a pharmacist, which resulted in marriage in July 2004.
"Bindu was Hindu and she embraced Islam. She was also a divorcee with a girl child. We faced snub from our families over this decision. Everything was fine until we decided to start a business. We started with the sale of animal drugs. But Dubai real estate boom lured us to construction," Faizal said from his 2mX5m room.
And then their trouble started.
"In 2007, a Dh400,000 cheque got bounced and I was jailed. Bindu was pregnant and then a friend helped us with construction projects. He introduced Bindu to B.P., a man who promised to help get me out of jail."
Faizal claimed the man was given two signed blank cheques by Bindu to get money from a pawnbroker but no money was given. "He said both cheques were missing. We didn't suspect anything fishy as he was introduced by a friend. Luckily we got a big project in Dubai and with the first payment from that, I was out of jail. Then we bagged some good projects in Abu Dhabi. Life was like a dream until everything crashed in 2008 with the economic slowdown. Our payments stopped and we couldn't cope with pressure mounting from our clients."
Faizal claimed B.P. presented one of the blank cheques with an amount of Dh900,000 and then filed a case. We went into hiding in Ajman and later in Dubai, but a friend informed authorities about us. We were arrested in front of our daughters. With different cases, I was kept in Dubai jail and my wife in Abu Dhabi. I was out in a few months and raised Dh200,000 to get bail for Bindu. However, in 2013, B.P. presented another cheque of Dh10 million and Bindu is still in jail," Faizal said. 

Father, 2 daughters and a room

"Life is a struggle since then. We are living in this one room stuffed with clothes and other things. We are surviving on help from like-minded people. A few years back, I send our elder daughter Ashwathy to India due to lack of money. She stays with a relative in India but her studies too couldn't continue beyond school. Maleha's studies were stopped as villa schools were shut and she didn't have any valid documents. My visa expired seven years ago and I am not working anymore. I am scared if I will be arrested then what will happen to Maleha. She doesn't know the outside world. She doesn't know good or bad strangers. We, as parents, have been a failure. I am clueless but hope we will get a respite during this amnesty period. I am counting on Indian Embassy to help us out. I need to save my daughter. I want to raise my daughters in a proper manner," Faizal said.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi

Ashwani Kumar

Ashwani Kumar is a versatile journalist who explores every beat in Abu Dhabi with an insatiable curiosity. He loves uncovering stories that are informative and help readers form their own opinions.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com