Dubai: A clerk has been jailed for three years for using his cellphone to secretly film his female colleagues when they entered the washroom.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted I.A, 27, an Indian national, of violating the privacy of his workmates.
A 26-year-old Egyptian woman lodged a complaint against the defendant after an intermittently flashing light alerted her to a camera fixed under the sink in the washroom.
“I was having my lunch when I saw that the defendant took the washroom key and went in for a while then came out. All co-workers share the same washroom at our workplace. Ten minutes later I went to use the toilet. I spotted a red light. I discovered that somebody had fixed the mobile’s camera under the sink and positioned the lens facing the toilet seat. I checked the recorded material and saw the defendant’s face. He recorded himself sitting on the toilet seat to ensure that he had the right angle. There was footage of myself... I hid the mobile phone in my handbag and reported the matter to the management and the police,” the woman claimed.
The accused will be deported after serving his jail term.
A Filipina woman also provided testimony.
The accused entered a guilty plea. He confessed that he fixed the mobile phone under the sink with the intention of secretly filming the women. He claimed he had done so on three occasions previously but deleted whatever he had recorded without watching it. He claimed he was caught on the fourth attempt after the Egyptian woman discovered the cellphone.
Sunday’s judgement remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
