DUBAI // Two men who pretended to be a beautiful woman online to lure a man into a hotel room theft will spend a year in jail each.
The Nigerian defendants, aged 31 and 33, got the Portuguese tourist to visit their hotel room after he had interacted with what he thought was a woman with a beautiful profile picture on the WhatsApp messaging service.
The victim was forced to strip naked while he was filmed before he was robbed.
He said that he had been chatting with the “woman” and, after he arrived in the UAE, she sent him her picture and location. He agreed to meet in her hotel room in Oud Metha on February 18.
“When I got there, a big woman with tattoos opened the door for me then two men appeared and attacked me,” the Portuguese said. “They stripped me naked and filmed a video of me naked.”
He said that the pair assaulted him then threatened to post the recording online if he did not give up his money and credit cards. After he handed them over he was locked in the toilet.
“I didn’t hear their voices after about 15 minutes so I got out of the toilet then called police,” he said.
The pair took Dh2,500 in cash and used the man’s card to withdraw cash then bought Dh7,000 worth of items using his credit card.
A policeman testified that the pair’s ploy was to hunt down victims through social media after posing as a beautiful woman offering sex for money.
Police managed to apprehend the defendants through the documents they used to book the hotel room.
The defendants denied charges of theft, sex assault and breaching the modesty of a person when they appeared at Dubai Criminal Court. However, they were both convicted of all charges and sentenced to a year in jail, to be followed by deportation.
salamir@thenational.ae
