Kuwaiti influencer Rawan bin Hussain on hunger strike in Dubai jail: Who is she and what led to her imprisonment?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Kuwaiti influencer Rawan bin Hussain on hunger strike in Dubai jail: Who is she and what led to her imprisonment?")
Kuwaiti influencer Rawan bin Hussain is in a Dubai jail. Photograph: (Instagram/ Rawan bin Hussain)
Kuwaiti social media influencer Rawan bin Hussain is in a Dubai jail. Her initial sentence was six months, but it has now been extended by a year. She has reportedly gone on a hunger strike, and her photos from jail have worried her followers.
Rawan bin Hussain, a Kuwaiti social media influencer with over 7.5 million followers on Instagram, is lodged in a jail in Dubai after being arrested in March last year. She was handed a six-month prison sentence, fined 20,000 dirham and ordered to leave the country. A photo of Rawan from jail is now going viral, causing a scare among her followers. She looks pale and worn out in the picture as reports emerged that Rawan is on a hunger strike after her sentence was extended. Rawan is extremely popular in Kuwait, and Vogue magazine even named her the "Brooke Shields of Kuwait" in 2016. However, Rawan has been caught in a string of scandals and controversies, fighting with airport officials, assaulting police officers and dancing in front of Iran's flag. In fact, her legal battles have continued for five years and refuse to die down. Lodged in a Dubai jail, her sentence has been extended after she reportedly attacked a female prison guard. In protest, she has started a hunger strike, Al Bawaba News reported.
Why is social media influencer Rawan bin Hussain in jail?
Rawan was arrested in March this year after she broke several laws publicly. She is accused of getting drunk in public, assaulting a police officer and creating a scene. Investigations showed that she abused several police officers while they were doing their jobs. The government of Dubai sentenced her to six months in jail and deportation from the United Arab Emirates. But her antics did not stop in jail either, where she got violent and assaulted a female officer. This led her jail term to be extended by a year. Rawan is not happy with it and has gone on a hunger strike, reports suggest. Her latest pictures from the prison have worried her followers. Meanwhile, others said that the law is the same for everyone, irrespective of how famous they might be.
Rawan bin Hussain legal troubles
The Kuwaiti influencer's troubles started after she got divorced from her husband, Youssef Migariaf, in July 2020, months after giving birth to their daughter. Later that year, she is said to have stalked, harassed and physically assaulted Youssef. She failed to appear in a UK court to face criminal charges for the same and risked getting arrested. A year later, the British court convicted Rawan, fined her £6,500, and issued a restraining order banning her from contacting Youssef and his family.
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Rawan bin Hussain scuffles in Iraq and Saudi Arabia
In July 2023, she got into a scuffle with the staff at Baghdad airport and was deported from Iraq for her actions. Then in October the same year, she offended Saudi Arabian officials by dancing in front of the Iranian flag. Two years later, she went berserk on the streets of Dubai after getting intoxicated. UAE rules clearly state that consuming alcohol or being intoxicated in public places is illegal. Since then, Rawan has been in a Dubai jail, and things do not seem to be getting better for her.
