Though they never became her legal guardians, her Pakistani foster father, Syed Ali Moazzam, and his Filipino wife, Muozzama, who had spent years caring for her through some of the most gruelling circumstances imaginable, bid emotional farewell to her: grieving, but grateful Fatima was finally at peace.

“Finally, we managed to lay our Fatima to rest in Dubai’s Al Qusais Cemetery,” Moazzam told Gulf News on Sunday.

He said Fatima’s biological mother, however, was not there. She could not attend the burial because she was in police custody. She was transferred from Ajman to Dubai, according to one of her friends, with multiple cases involving financial dealings filed against her.

As reported by Gulf News, Fatima was declared dead after she was found unresponsive at their home in Ajman on Tuesday morning. She was 15.

After Ajman authorities informed the foster parents that she can only be buried in Dubai because she was born there and her biological mother’s last visa was also from there, they had to seek permission from Dubai authorities for the same.

Getting permission to bury Fatima in Dubai was expected to be a long battle, said Moazzam. With no Emirates ID and a complicated legal history, he said he was told they might face a long wait, possibly until after the Eid holidays.

“I didn’t have peace. I didn’t want her body to stay in cold storage. I wanted to relieve her of all worldly things as soon as possible,” he said.

He approached Dubai Municipality and Dubai Police, explaining Fatima’s story in full. He said he showed the previous Gulf News reports on Fatima to the officials. Dubai Municipality granted permission following which Dubai Police issued a no-objection certificate for her burial despite her undocumented residency status.

“Alhamdulillah, we got permission. We are thankful to Dubai Municipality and Dubai Police,” Moazzam said.

Fatima was born out of wedlock and her father had disappeared, according to her mother who took care of her initially. She then handed over the child to a friend and her partner when Fatima was just a year old. That first set of informal foster parents also eventually gave up on her. It was then that Moazzam and Muozzama stepped in and started homeschooling her.

Fatima had sent Gulf News a video thanking the newspaper and the reporter who had helped her.