Religious police at the Dubai Mall

At the Dubai Mall yesterday, my girlfriend gave me a peck on the at the base of an escalator leading to the floor above us. 

I heard a voice screaming behind me. "HEY YOU! COME HERE!"

I looked behind me to see what was going on.

A local man in his 30's approached me, grabbed me by the elbow, and led me to one side. My girlfriend, a little flustered, scared and confused by what was happening, walked away slowly.

When the man saw her walking away, he shouted at her, "YOU, COME HERE"

LOCAL: "This is a Muslim country, you can not kiss in front of the people."

ME: "I'm sorry to have offended you, I didn't know"

LOCAL: "You should know. This is a Muslim country and you are not allowed to kiss each other in public. You can do anything you want at home, you are even allowed to get naked at home, but leave everything for the bedroom please, "

Annoyed by the patronizing lecture, I decided to ask in what capacity he is acting

ME: "I'm sorry, but I really don't appreciate getting a lecture from you because you are personally offended by behavior that would be otherwise accepted anywhere in the world."

LOCAL: "Would you like me to call the police and you deal with them?"

ME: "I haven't done anything wrong. I'm sorry, are you the police?"

LOCAL: "Yes I am"

The man proceeds to pull out his Dubai Police ID card. He calls the mall security guard and asks him to call the police. 

Scared and confused, I apoligize and say that I didn't know that I had done anything wrong. The man looks at me, pauses as if to size me up and consider whether he should bestow "mercy" upon me, and then says "OK get out of here, if I catch you again doing this you will be in the jail."

To make a long story short, I was basically harassed and publicly humiliated by a policeman in the largest shopping mall in Dubai because my girlfriend gave me a peck on the cheek. Needless to say, my evening was ruined.

This in a city that is infamous for its prostitution and human traficking. This is the hypocricy that tens of thousands of expats have to live with every day. This in a city that positions itself to the world as  a cosmopolitan vanguard of tolerance in the Middle East. For anyone that lives here, the reality is quite the opposite.