DUBAI // “Kathryn” says she is a mother on 24-hour suicide watch. Her daughter, 12, regularly cuts her own arms and legs and is on hunger strike, saying she no longer wants to live because of cyber-bullying.
Now on the brink of leaving the UAE, she and her family spend much of their time at the local hospital, where their daughter is force-fed through a tube.
“I can’t explain the pain I feel every day as a mother,” the 41-year-old Al Ain mother said. “Of course I worry she will take her own life but it’s also the pain of knowing how desperately unhappy she is. We all want our children to smile and thrive, to enjoy life.”
The family was forced to move from a high-rise apartment in Jumeirah Lakes Towers to a villa in Al Ain after their daughter tried to jump from the 32nd floor.
“We left the emirate [Dubai] but you can’t escape the online world,” Kathryn said.
“I went into her room with food as she refuses to eat in front of anyone and a rope was hanging from her bedroom light fitting.
“My heart sank. You don’t know whether to scream or cry. I’m angry but sad. I’m hurting but will never give up.
“She is a little girl with her whole life ahead of her and these people are making her believe that death is a better option than swimming, shopping, dating boys and growing into a young woman.
“I cannot put into words my pain, I really can’t.”
“I wish the internet didn’t exist,” she said. “I’d never Google again if I knew I could make this go away.”
newsdesk@thenational.ae
