Egyptian movie star accused of assault at five-star Dubai hotel

An Egyptian movie star has been quizzed by police over an alleged attack on a family of American tourists at a landmark Dubai hotel.

The actress has been questioned in relation to an assault on a couple and their 11-year-old daughter at Atlantis, The Palm, according to official documentation from police.

The accused is said to have carried out the attack - sparked by a row over the taking of pictures - along with her sister and a third woman.

Sources said the two suspects were both caught on camera by one of the customers at The Gold Lounge at the hotel.

The woman is accused of scratching and biting the 11-year-old girl and also scratching her mother.

Her sister is said to have bitten the man on the shoulder.

Dubai Police’s operations received a report of the incident on the night of June 29 and a patrol was dispatched to the scene where the actress, her sister, the tourist and his family were taken to Al Barsha police station.

“When I arrived, she was ahead of me and told police officers that I assaulted her as well, so they accused us of mutual assault. We gave our testimonies then left and on Sunday I headed to the American consulate which referred me to legal consultant Hassan Elhais,” said the man said in a statement to police.

He was advised by his legal consultant from Al Rowad Advocates to head to Rashid hospital for medical check-ups following which, he, his wife and his daughter, were provided with reports confirming an assault had happened.

The report stated that they suffered from human bites, scratches and bruises.

Witnesses said that they heard the actress screaming at the 11-year-old girl telling her she was an animal.

However, not being able to understand the language, the girl looked for her family, who were only 15 feet away.

The 47-year-old-man said in police records that when he heard the woman screaming at his daughter, he approached her - not knowing her identity- to explain that his daughter didn't speak Arabic.
"I told her that my daughter was born and raised in the United States, I told her it was inappropriate to scream like that using such words but she shifted to English language and cursed all of us and was accusing my daughter of filming her," said the man.

He said that he informed the woman that his daughter was merely taking pictures of his five-year-old son at the playground of the restaurant.

“I was telling her that why would my daughter take a video of her, we never met her in our lives, then she said something about her identity and who she was before she and her sister and a third lady attacked us, she bit my wife, then attacked my daughter, scratched her and bit her before she snatched the phone out of her hand and broke it.

"Her sister bit me on the shoulder,” said the man.

The case has now been referred to public prosecution.