Dubai: A woman visitor has been cleared of luring an engineer for a massage at a flat via a Facebook advertisement, then robbing his Dh179,000 after threatening to kill him with a hot iron.
The 34-year-old Egyptian engineer saw a Facebook page promoting massage services at a hotel room before he contacted the number and was invited over in August.
As soon as the engineer entered the hotel room, he was surprised by a 35-year-old Nigerian woman and two men, said records.
The woman visitor and the men, who looked like Africans, allegedly beat up the Egyptian, threatened to kill him with a hot iron and stole his Dh179,000 in cash and credit card purchases.
The man had been tied with a rope and confined in the room for 14 hours, during which one of the men went to a nearby ATM and withdrew Dh15,000 from the engineer’s bank account, purchased gold worth Dh164,000 and returned to the hotel.
The 34-year-old was forced to divulge his bank card pin code after they threatened to kill him, said records.
The woman and the two men then told the man to go to the washroom and take a shower before they free him, according to records, but they absconded by the time he came out of the washroom.
Police apprehended the 35-year-old woman shortly after the incident and are still searching for the other two suspects.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the woman of confining the engineer under threat to kill him in the room, assaulting him and stealing his cash and credit card.
She pleaded not guilty when she appeared in court.
The engineer alleged that he communicated with a woman and went to the hotel room for a massage.
“Once I stepped into the room, the suspect and two men jumped out and instantly started beating me. They tied me up and took my bank cards from my wallet. They threatened to kill me with a hot iron to force me to give them my bank card pin codes. One of the male suspects went and withdrew Dh15,000 from my bank account and purchased gold for Dh164,000. When I left the room after 14 hours of confinement, I reported the matter to the police,” he claimed to prosecutors.
A police lieutenant said the Nigerian woman was apprehended.
“During questioning, she claimed that she had been in Dubai only for five days and had not committed any crime. Upon inspecting her phone, it was discovered that she had been sharing her location with other men … then she admitted that she aided and abetted the runaway suspects in luring the engineer,” he said.
However, the court acquitted the woman of any wrongdoing.
Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
