DUBAI // A swimming trainer has been sentenced to six months in jail for taking pictures of a naked woman and using them to blackmail her into paying him Dh10,000.
Dubai Criminal Court was told that Sri Lankan A L, 34, had been in a romantic relationship with his Indian victim, M R, 23.
Prosecutors said that, while dating the woman, he took several pictures of her, some of which were naked photos.
“He used his iPhone 5 to take the pictures then took my uncle’s Facebook account and, when I broke up with him, he sent the pictures to my uncle,” said the Indian woman.
She told prosecutors that the trainer sent the images to convince her uncle that she wanted to marry him.
He also sent the pictures through WhatsApp to her sister. “I gave him Dh2,000 to delete the pictures,” she said, adding that she also asked him not to tell her family about their relationship but he asked her for Dh10,000 more to abide by her request.
“When I didn’t give him more than the Dh2,000, he sent the pictures to my family,” added the victim.
She provided prosecutors with the username and password of the defendant’s Facebook account and, when they logged into his account, they found that he sent seven naked photos to her uncle.
The swimming trainer was charged with taking pictures of M R, taking naked pictures of her and exchanging them with others through social media. He was also charged with asking his ex-girlfriend for Dh10,000 in return for not sending the pictures to her family.
Prosecutors said that he confessed to the charges but in court last September he denied it.
He will be deported after completing his jail term.
salamir@thenational.ae
