Three jailed for using prayer beads as lure to rob man of Dh80,000

The Emirati men were allowed into their victim's car to show the beads but they then attacked the man, stabbing him and instructing his maid to get all the money from his house.

DUBAI // Three men cheated another by offering him special prayer beads before stabbing him with a sword and stealing more than Dh80,000.

The Emiratis, aged between 24 and 31, contacted their Emirati victim on September 3, 2014, and offered him prayer beads worth Dh65,000.

They agreed to meet that same day in Jumeirah 2.

“They came into my car to hand me the beads but only if I showed them the cash first,” said victim, 27.

“I did and one of them suddenly stabbed me in the chest. When I resisted, I was stabbed with a sword in the arm.”

_____________________________

Today in court

■ Dubai housewife jailed for sustained abuse of maid

■ Life sentence for man who stabbed compatriot he owed Dh30,000 to

_____________________________

The man was dragged into the back seat, assaulted and threatened with death. One of the attackers used his mobile phone to call the assaulted man’s maid.

“He asked my maid to wait at the gate to my house and bring all the cash that was there. She didn’t know what was going on and did what they asked,” said the victim.

The victim was left in the back seat as his car was driven to another place, where his attackers met several men.

“With the little strength left in me, I managed to jump into the driver’s seat and speed away,” said the victim.

He called his family and told them about the incident, and asked them to call an ambulance.

When he reached home, he sat outside until an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital.

“I went out to check if he had returned and I saw him sitting on the pavement, bleeding,” the victim’s younger brother said. “He told me he was stabbed.”

The three men were convicted of theft, assault and issuing death threats, and jailed for three years.

It was not clear why the case took three years to reach court or when the three men were arrested, but prosecutors said they confessed to the crime.