Sharjah resident victim of repeated vandalism and theft

As a long-term resident in the UAE, M A was devastated when she became a victim of crime twice in a matter of weeks, and just metres from her Sharjah home.

SHARJAH // As a long-term resident in the UAE, M A was devastated when she became a victim of crime twice in a matter of weeks, and just metres from her home.

The 28-year-old Canadian-expatriate has been living in Sharjah since she was a child.

Two years ago her new blue Honda Civic was targeted twice by vandals in the space of two months.

“Our car when we first bought it was vandalised within the first week of purchase. Someone actually dragged a very sharp object around the entire car,” she said.

“The entire car had to be repainted.

“Then we did get it repainted then within two months of it being repainted it happened again.”

M A believes she was a victim of petty vandalism and thinks it was probably the same offender on both occasions.

“We actually have no idea who did it. We would not think somebody would want to do us that kind of harm.”

In the second attack, the vandal scratched a “peace” sign into the side of the car.

Having spent thousands of dirhams to get the car repainted once, M A said she could not afford to get it fixed again.

“We decided to leave it,” said M A. “We could not afford to get it repainted again.”

On both occasions, her car was parked outside the home she shares with her parents.

Earlier this year, M A’s family home was also targeted by burglars.

“This is not the only thing that happened. Very recently — a couple of months ago — my mother’s laptop was stolen from inside the house.”

M A said the front door had been left unlocked and opportunist thieves struck while her father was alone at home.

“It was not very long the door was unlocked — maybe ten minutes,” she said. “My father had gone to the washroom so no one was in front of the house.”

All three occasions she contacted the police. She said the police officers were responsive but no offenders were caught and her mother’s laptop was never found.

Despite her experiences, M A said she does feel safe in her local area but said there are certain areas she would avoid walking alone.

“Generally it is safe but there are areas I would avoid,” she said. “I think it is a nice place to live.”