Family's fears grow for missing South African
Anthony Richardson
Last Updated: August 31. 2008 8:45PM UAE / August 31. 2008 4:45PM GMT
DUBAI // For the past two weeks Kurt Winter has thought of nothing but finding his missing sister.
Every telephone call or lead has raised his hopes that this could be the one that ends his family’s agony and gives them the news, good or bad, of his sister’s whereabouts.
But until that happens the sense of helplessness is overwhelming.
Kerry Winter has not been seen since Aug 20, when witnesses say they saw her during the evening being savagely beaten with a baseball bat outside her rented villa in Al Barsha and dragged bleeding into her car.
She has not been seen or heard from since.
I've been following this story, it is chilling and hits a little too close to home for me on a few different levels. The reader's digest version:
- May 2008: This woman, Kerry Winter, a South African, breaks off a 5-year relationship with boyfriend, Mark Arnold, a British national. Moves out. Apparently he won't divorce his wife so can't say as I blame her for skidding his sorry @$$.
- June/July/August: the ex-boyfriend follows her around, sits outside her house, breaks into her house, barges into her office, makes meanacing phone calls and SMS's. She moves around a couple times, changes her number, stays with friends. Police do nothing to help her because he has accused her of burglarizing his house. She proves that she was not even in the country when this supposedly happened and police drop the charges and return her passport.
- August 20: she has drinks with a friend. Sees her ex-boyfriend spying. She goes home, he follows. An arguement ensues. He beats her with a baseball bat. Neighbours try to intervene, he beats them too. Neighbours call police. He cleans up her head wounds, bundles her into her SUV, drives her to Arabian Ranches round-about (kind of the middle of no-where) and drops her off. Goes home, has a shower, goes to work. Police arrive too late and find blood all over the inside of her apartment.
- August 20-ish: friends and family receive SMS's from her phone saying she is OK. They get suspicious. They respond in Afrikaans and that's the end of the SMS's.
- August 23-26: Ex-boyfriend flys back to England with his new girlfriend to watch a football (soccer) game and is arrested when he returns to UAE for the beating episode. The police interrogate him, he claims she was coherent and "fine" when he left her ... that's his story and he's sticking to it.
- August 27-ish: Police find her SUV but no sign of her.
- September 3: The body of a woman is found in the desert. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how one looks at it), it is not Kerry. Police confirm that the woman found (with 2 children) is Pakistani or Sri Lankan. A very sad side-story mostly because it would have never have made the news at all if it weren't for this case (I have been watching the for information, there's nothing.)
That's where it ends. Girl is still missing. Family is still searching. Ex-boyfriend is still sitting in jail, smug and defiant.
Dubai is still generally a safe place but it is not utopia. Bad things happen here same as anywhere.
The National
The Gulf News
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Beach couple plead not guilty
Ramona Ruiz
Last Updated: August 12. 2008 10:30PM UAE / August 12. 2008 6:30PM GMT
Two Britons pleaded not guilty to charges of having intercourse on a public beach at their first appearance at the Dubai Misdemeanours Court yesterday.
Michelle Palmer and Vincent Acors, who were arrested on Jumeirah beach just after midnight on July 5, were charged with illicit relations, public indecency and being intoxicated in public. They were released on bail.
The charges were read out at about 9am to the accused by the presiding judge, Abdullatif Hamad, according to a source close to the case. “Both pleaded not guilty to having sexual relations and committing an indecent act in public. However, they admitted to consuming alcohol. Ms Palmer produced her liquor licence to the court.”
The hearing was initially set for Aug 21, but the date was moved forward. The pair were represented by a lawyer who said he would submit papers in their defence. The next hearing is scheduled for Sept 2. If convicted, they each face jail sentences of three to six months followed by deportation.
I read previously they could get 6 years in jail so 3 to 6 months is not so bad by comparison. Other reports have said that they were given a warning, they were beligerent towards the police and she threw her shoe at them. She denies all that and is looking for public support to try to sway the verdict. Unfortunately the court of public opinion is not in her favour, most people (expats and locals) feel that regardless of what is permissible in one's home country and regardless of one's personal opinion of the local laws and customs, one must respect the laws of the land. Dubai is pretty liberal but there's a limit.
The "beach couple" are also British nationals (as is boyfriend from the last story) ... what's going on with those Brits??? They were convicted and will be sentanced in the next week or so.
The Gulf News
The National
Fox
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Ramadan Kareem!!! (translation: Happy Ramadan ... I think?)
Ramadan in Dubai
Holy Month of Ramadan Begins
The holy month of Ramadan has begun. During this month, all Muslims commemorate the revelation of the Holy Quran by fasting and abstaining from all food & drinks between dawn and dusk. The fast is broken with the Iftar meal. All over Dubai, festive Ramadan tents are filled with people of all nationalities celebrating together, the breaking of the fast.
Non-Muslims are requested to refrain from eating, drinking or smoking in public places, during the day as a sign of respect. Ramadan ends with Eid Al Fitr, when the whole of Dubai celebrates the feast of the breaking of the fast.
Government of Dubai website
Non-muslims are not really 'requested' to refrain from eating/drinking/smoking in public, it is actually the law. A common question asked these days is, "are you fasting?". Not something I am accustomed to hearing.
The Definition of Ramadan according to Wikipedia is:
Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان, Ramaḍān) is a Muslim religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, believed to be the month in which the Qur'an was revealed to Angel Gabriel, who later revealed it to the Prophet Muhammad. It is the Islamic month of fasting (sawm), in which participating Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the person patience, sacrifice and humility. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of God, and to offer even more prayer than usual. In Ramadan Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance into the future, ask for help in refrain from everyday evils and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.
Also from RamadanKareem.org:
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim year which follows a lunar calendar. Each month begins with a sighting of the moon's crescent and lasts 29 or 30 days until a sighting of the next month's crescent.
The month of Ramadan commemorates the days when the Angel Gabriel imparted the wisdom of the Koran, Islam's holy book, to the Prophet Mohammed.
Ramadan is a time for self-examination and increased religious devotion. The fast ends when the new moon is again sighted and the month of Shawwal begins. It is followed by the Id Al-Fitr feasting and the exchange of gifts.
The Muslim belief states that whoever observes this fasting faithfully and with pure intentions, will have his or her sins forgiven. Fasting during Ramadan is said to be 30 times more powerful than fasting any other time of the year.
Many non-Muslims also fast in the same way, some to show support for our Muslim friends, some for health reasons, some because they are cheap-skates (less food = less dirhams spent). Most restaurants, coffee shops, food courts are closed during the day which makes it a little inconvenient for us "non-fasters" who don't plan ahead! Sadly, my beloved Starbucks is closed now but my other lunch-time haunt (Corner 3) is open (the window shades are down). Just gotta put my contraband lunch in a brown paperbag and sneak it up to my office. The other non-fasters hang out with me in my secluded little corner for lunch.
On the up-side, the work day is reduced to 6 hours for everyone (which doesn't actually change anything for me, I still seem to be working long hours).
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And lastly: the great debate over a revolutionary new concept ... the self-serve gas station! Will it catch on?
Do-it-yourself at Enoc petrol stations
By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter
Published: August 13, 2008, 00:00
Dubai: It was an unusual sight to have attendants at some Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) petrol stations standing aside and watching motorists taking the nozzle to fill their vehicle's fuel tanks.
Ten Enoc petrol stations yesterday went on the self-service scheme as part of their pilot project. Three were launched in Dubai and seven across the northern emirates. The self-service concept will allow for payments by cash only. As a safety measure, smoking and use of mobile phones while filling up are strictly forbidden.
The Gulf News
The article goes on to give step-by-step instructions:
Park your vehicle in front of the pump,
Switch off the engine.
Go inside the store and pay the amount of purchase.
Mention the pump number to the cashier.
The cashier will then give a receipt for the payment
Customer can go back to the particular pump, take the nozzle out and fill up.
The pump will automatically stop when the authorised amount is dispensed and the customer can then replace the nozzle.
[Insert sarcasm here:] They don't explicitly state this but once you replace the nozzle, you must then get in your vehicle, start the engine and proceed to whereever it was you were going before you entered the petrol station. Some might be confused by this. [End of sarcasm]
The article also lists the locations of stations piloting the "do-it-yourself" thing and quotes from a random sampling of users:
Yes, self-service petrol stations is a good idea. There is no reason why others should stand in the heat the whole day just for the sake of the motorist. We can all stand the climate for a few minutes.
It's a stupid idea, with this type of climate no one will even consider pumping petrol for their car.
I much prefer to be served by an attendant - it is too hot to get out of my car. I also wear 'driving shoes' in my car, so getting out of the car, would mean I'd have to change my shoes again, go and pay, fill up, and then change my shoes to driving shoes again. (can you say "lazy"?!)
Inside the cities it can cause chaos and disruption especially during peak hours. (isn't chaos and disruption a way of life in this city anyways???)
It is a great idea for those petrol stations that are situated in rural areas, where the petrol attendant can't be located because he is having a nap in the back (Haha! Yup, its Dubai.)
I'ts very convenient for male costumer, How about for the female wearing abaya's? (This is a legitimate point.)
Personally I hope it does not become mandatory but what I would like to see are some DIY car washes. (Whoa, let's not get carried away! I pay a guy 30 dirhams a week to wash the Pajero while I'm at work; my vehicle has never been so clean!)
most of the people who dont wish to come out of their vehicle will avoid this situation and move to other stations and at last, attendants will surely lose their jobs which is not good.
This last comment, albeit a bit jumbled, hits the nail on the head me thinks. There is a subtle shift towards weaning Dubai off of the masses of low-wage ex-pat workers doing the meanial jobs or at least keeping them out of sight. I think they would do away with the white-collar high-wage ex-pats as well except that there are not enough qualified Emiratis to fill those positions. They still need us.
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