Dubai: Three men have been jailed for six months each for threatening to photoshop a college girl’s pictures and her sister’s on nude images and post them on social media if they didn’t date them.
The Pakistani trio, aged between 20 and 33, obtained the two Pakistani sisters’ contact details through a private WhatsApp chat group in November.
The trio used more than seven mobile numbers through which they stalked the sisters — and constantly sent them more than offensive and threatening messages nature more than 100 times a day.
The Pakistani defendants threatened to defame the sisters to photoshop their personal pictures on images of nude women and threatened to post those images on social media if they [sisters] did not date them and hang out with them.
The trio also threatened to burn the sisters’ family house and to burn the car of one of them if they did not yield to their demands.
The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the trio to six months each for abusing the telecommunication systems and threatening to tarnish their image and smear their family’s reputation if their did not date them and become friends with them.
The trio had pleaded not guilty and refuted their accusations when they defended themselves in court.
According to Tuesday’s ruling, presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said all the mobile devices that were used to threaten and offend the sisters will be seized.
The trio will be deported following the completion of their punishments.
The elder sister testified that one day she received a WhatsApp message from someone who pretended to be an old schoolmate.
“I asked him a number of questions about our schooldays but he did not answer me. I called up that person on the last contact detail I had for him … the real schoolmate told me that he had not contacted me on WhatsApp. I blocked the sender at first … then he texted me from another number. He asked to marry me and then asked me to go out with him on a date. I blocked the person for a second time … but the same person added me from another number and someone else also started doing the same with my sister. Later, we realized that a common friend had shared my number with another person [who turned out to be one of the defendants] out of good intention. Then that person shared my number with his two accomplice … then my sister and I started receiving 100s of message a day. The senders [defendants] threatened us that they would tamper with images and fix our faces on nude images and circulate those images on social media if we did not date those men. Thereafter I complained to the police especially after the defendants threatened to burn my car and the family’s house,” she said.
A police sergeant testified that the trio were identified after tracking down one of the mobile phone number that had been used to stalk the sisters.
The defendants were apprehended one at a time, said the sergeant.
Tuesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
