Remember The Dubai Princess Who Tried Escaping Her Family’s Abuse? She’s Being Sent Back To UAE

latifa

Earlier this month, Latifa Mohammed Al Maktoum, the woman who claimed to be the daughter of Prime Minister of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s daughter, was reported missing from the coast of Goa. She had managed to escape UAE where her father and her family held her hostage for most of her life and abused her.

She had made an SOS video which was to be released if and when she disappeared or if something worse happened to her. Her lawyer was instructed to release the video as her last official statement.

The things she described in the video about the Dubai PM, about how her family tortured her and her sister, how she was held captive in her own house – it all sent a shiver down my spine.

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As per a recent report by NDTV, Latifa has been taken back to the UAE with the help of India. French-American national Herve Jaubert who was also accompanying her, claims India played a role in helping Dubai PM hunt them, find them and take them back.

Jaubert, a 62-year-old highly-trained former French intelligence officer, was helping Latifa make her escape from her family and finally find her freedom. He said,

“We were attacked by Indian forces who boarded us from Indian Coastguard boats. They were about 12 armed men. They hunted us, they found us, and they attacked us with no warning, no notice, no radio call…Just plain military attack.”

When they were taken back to the Emirates, Jaubert described that they were blindfolded, handcuffed and jailed in a location he didn’t know. He said,

“They told me that although I did not break any laws in the water, I broke Islamic Law. Because under Islamic law, women have to be in the custody of a father, husband or brother. So when I helped Latifa to escape, they viewed that as kidnapping her from her father; and that is how they justified their military operation against Nostromo, abducting us, and taking us back to the UAE.”

 

Even earlier, the Indian authorities had refused to comment and declined to have any information about the Dubai Princess or their location on the coast of Goa. Even now, the Indian Coast Guard including its public relations officer RK Singh refused to comment on the situation.

Radha Stirling, a member of Detained in Dubai, the organization that was helping Latifa escape, was the last person Latifa had spoken to before she went missing. She told NDTV that she was worried about Jaubert’s safety even though he is now en route Sri Lanka. She said,

“He is not only a victim, but a material witness to the acts committed by the United Arab Emirates and Indian Armed Forces, and we have every reason to believe that all parties involved in the illegal commandeering of Nostromo may wish to prevent Herve’s testimony from ever being heard.”

To say that I am unsettled about this whole situation would be an understatement. For anyone who has seen the video, it is nerve-wracking, painful and scary. When your own family turns against you, where do you go to seek help?

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