Sharjah police arrest members of Facebook gang

Sharjah: Police have arrested five members of a gang for beating up schoolchildren, filming the assaults and threatening to post the videos on social networking site Facebook unless ransom money is paid.

A senior official at the Preventive Security Section at Sharjah Police said the Asian gang called themselves "Death Room," and some went by the alias of Mario, Doori, Lee and Jenjel Bob.

The gang, which comprised of three people of no known nationality and two Asians, targeted children from affluent families.

"The gang would loiter around high cost schools and then pounce on their victim. They would then kick and beat them while at the same time recording the events with a home video recorder," said the official. The victims known to the police are aged 12 to 15 from Asian backgrounds, while the gang members are between the ages of 20 to 25.

After the children were beaten and recorded, the gang would then demand money - ranging between Dh500 to Dh1,000 - to be paid every week. If the victims failed to pay up, the gang threatened to post the videos on the internet site Facebook, and then kill them and their parents.

The gang would contact the children on their mobile phone and explain the details of the location where they should receive the blackmail money.

Upon arrival, the children would once again be abused and recorded on video.

Several of the videos were uploaded onto Facebook, which showed compromising and intimidating, acts such as cigarettes being extinguished on the victims' arms. According to police, the victims' parents were aware of the abuse but were too afraid to contact the police for fear of their lives.

Some parents regularly paid the money, while others resorted to hiring security for their children. Police said that one couple was so scared for their child's safety that they decided to send their child back to their home country. "This appears to have been a long term crime. The silence of the parents enabled the gang to get more victims over a long period of time and receiving vast quantities of money," said the police official.

As of yet, police have evidence for five cases but they believe that there are many more.

Contact: Helpline

Sharjah Police are urging victims to come forward if they have been targeted by the gang. Police have set up a designated hotline number for this case: 06 5487000

Advice: Support for victims

Victims of the Facebook plot, including the family, require love and support from each other and society, as well as psychological intervention to prevent long-term psychological problems, said an expert in the field.

Raymond Hamden, clinical and forensic psychologist at the Human Relations Institute, told Gulf News the whole family would be affected, especially the children/teenagers who are vulnerable to shame and fear arising from the attacks. "They are at the age where they are too young to be adults and too old to be children. It's a horrific act by psychopathic people and they may be scarred," he said.

He said psychological intervention, or Critical Stress Debriefing, is needed as soon as possible to prevent the victims from developing chronic disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is an anxiety disorder, in which victims can develop flashbacks about the traumatic event, withdrawal from people, nightmares, problems with sleep and memory, and impaired functioning.

About 30 per cent of teenagers exposed to community violence develop the disorder, according to a 2007 study conducted by a team of scientists in India.

How can we safeguard children from such abuse? Do you keep a tab on your child,s whereabouts? Are you concerned about the impact their peers have on them?

Yes, I definitely agree the perpetrators should be brought to the worst punishment available in the UAE. That is all I can say!
Dr. Rajesh
Dubai,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 17:11

Good job Sharjah police. These people should be punished severely!
Dhawal Rana
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 16:49

Best effort from police and best regard for them. I read the news in Pakistan and I would suggest that the children could be administered some psychological help. These gangs must be busted and dealt with an iron hand.
Maqsood Baig
Lahore,Pakistan
Posted: February 27, 2009, 14:07

I don?t believe this is happening in the UAE. This is a very shocking and upsetting story and I pray that the law comes down hard on this gang. Surely making death threats against whole families warrants a strict penalty.
Abood
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 13:50

It was shocking to hear this news. Nobody can expect this thing can happen in this country. The criminals should be punished severely and I request all that if anybody know anything related to a crime, please inform the authorities to make this country safer.
Ajaz Bakshi
Ajman,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 13:44

The gang members should not be hidden from the public. Their identity should be revealed and justice should be served.
sanil
Dubai,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 13:44

Hats off to Sharjah police.
Kamran
Dubai,United Arab Emirates
Posted: February 27, 2009, 13:25

Thanks a million to the concerned authorities for cracking the case. On behalf of all families living in this peaceful UAE, my heartfelt sympathies to all those unfortunate children and their families. May all residents henceforth be more vigilant; alert to the life and happenings around their immediate self. Let effective awareness begin as well from primary education, and professional counseling facilities, too. Community participation is imperative for a better society. Time is ripe for all residents of the UAE, irrespective of race or religion, to start thinking on such lines for the harmony of all.
Reuben Smile
Dubai,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 12:24

It's such a shock to know that these incidents have been occurring in the UAE and people were too afraid to contact the police. We have one of the best officials who are well devoted to their work. What happened has happened and the community and the people should take notice and come forward to report the act and to secure the future of our children.
Aisha Salman
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 12:12

A very well job done by the police. Everyone should inform the police if they have this kind of a problem.
Salman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 11:54

A severe punishment to be meted out to these perpetrators, otherwise more daring gangs will follow suit.
Mohammad Abdullah
Ajman,Kenya
Posted: February 27, 2009, 11:07

This was a very good effort by the Sharjah police. People like these must be taken down to strict legal procedures so that it would save the young generation's future.
Bobby Mathews Gorge
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 10:02

The children in Sharjah need to be monitored. In fact, not only Sharjah, I think it should be all over the UAE. Some are violent enough to disturb pedestrians in very annoying ways. I have seen children make human chains and surround innocent people and drag them through the road. Some boys yell at people and I have seen some even spite at women and other children. Additionally, some children scratch newly bought cars and some children are violent enough to break windscreens, too. It's not a pleasant site when a person sees his or her car damaged early in the morning when he is in hurry to go to work. I think children should learn the value of properties and they should realise harming others and to get pleasure out of is not cool. The lessons should start from schools and it's more important to build their personalities in a good way as they are the ones who are going to be adults in 10 years time.
Shanaz
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 09:48

It's shocking to hear that this incident happened in one of the safest cities in the world. I urge all the victims to help the police in capturing such psychopaths.
Jai
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 09:21

The criminals should be punished severely and the verdict should be published in Gulf News. However, we hope that Facebook will not be blocked as we have already lost other social networking websites for contacting our friends and relatives.
Ahmad Ashfaq
Dubai,UAE
Posted: February 27, 2009, 09:01