Man who molested a tourist after tricking him into going to a Dubai hotel has jail term upheld



One of two men sentenced to jail for luring a man into a hotel room and then molesting and robbing him had his sentence upheld on Thursday.

The Nigerian pair, aged 31 and 33, were convicted of theft, sexual assault and breaching the modesty of a person and were sentenced to a year in jail each by Dubai Criminal Court.

The 31-year-old had his appeal rejected by Dubai Court of Appeal on Thursday.

The men lured 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 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 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 said the pair’s ploy was to hunt down victims through social media after posing as a beautiful woman offering sex for money.

Police arrested the men after tracking them down using the documents they used to rent 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.

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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline

Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.

When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.

Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.

Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.

“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.

Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.

“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.

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