Father and sons ‘imprisoned and tortured goldsmith they accused of theft’

Man tells Dubai court he was beaten and had cigarettes put out on his face during ordeal.

DUBAI // A man and his two sons are accused of locking up a worker for days and torturing him by beating him and stubbing out cigarettes on his face.

The three Indians, aged 65, 32 and 28, denied charges of confinement and physical assault at Dubai Criminal Court on Monday.

Prosecutors said that between January 1 and 3, they locked up a 43-year-old Indian goldsmith, who they accused of stealing gold from their jewellery shop in Naif.

“We had an argument in which they accused me of stealing gold, assaulted me, then ordered me to remain in the shop,” the goldsmith said.

At night the three men returned, he said, and did not allow him to leave, then later they took him to a room and questioned him about the gold they claimed he stole.

“All three of them beat me up then forced me into their car and drove to Sharjah. While in the car, they put out their cigarettes in my face. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the car while they were still driving around,” said the goldsmith.

The defendants allegedly drove the goldsmith back to his home but locked him up there and had men watch over him. “They didn’t even let me eat,” he said.

The next day, he said he was allowed to go with the men who were keeping guard over him to have lunch, which is when he managed to escape and reach police.

The father and his two sons denied the accusations during police questioning. The next hearing will be on April 10.