Dubai: A woman has been accused of possessing 1,124 sex toys, pornographic materials and enhancement products for both sexes that she promoted for sale on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Acting upon an informant’s tip off, Dubai Police obtained a prosecutors’ warrant and assigned the informant to pose as a buyer and communicate with the 31-year-old Egyptian woman to buy a sex doll in January.
Believed to have contacted the Egyptian woman via social media, the informant agreed to purchase a sex doll for Dh400.
The woman agreed to meet up with the informant in Dubai and tell him how to use the sex doll before an undercover team raided the spot and apprehended the suspect.
After arresting the suspect, police raided her flat and seized 1,124 sex dolls, electronic and manual devices and products and items for enhancement of sexual performance.
Prosecutors accused the suspect of possessing sex toys and pornographic substances for distributional and promotional purposes.
The woman told police that a Chinese woman whom she met through Facebook, asked her to sell the sex toys and shipped them to her.
The suspect pleaded not guilty when she appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.
During her trial, the suspect contended that the law enforcement procedures were carried out improperly and illegally against her.
She also argued that 1,124 confiscated sex toys and pornographic products were for her personal use.
The Misdemeanour Court found the suspect guilty and fined her Dh5,000.
Prosecutors appealed the primary judgement and asked the Appeal Court to stiffen her punishment.
Meanwhile, the suspect also challenged her punishment before the appellate court and sought to be acquitted.
The appellate court rejected the defendant’s appeal and accepted that of the prosecutors and sentenced her to one-month jail followed by deportation.
The suspect took her case up before the Cassation Court and renewed her not guilty plea.
Her lawyer argued before Dubai’s highest court that his client did not possess the sex toys to sell them on social media.
The lawyer said that law enforcement procedures were carried out illegally against the defendant as police raided the defendant’s residence without obtaining prosecutors’ warrant.
The lawyer further contended that the seized materials were imported from abroad in a legal manner and that the defendant did not possess them for promotion.
The sex toys and pornographic material are not listed as banned products and some of them are sold over the counters in pharmacies and shops, argued the lawyer.
On Monday, the Cassation Court overturned the appellate ruling and reverted the case back to the Appeal Court for a new panel of judges to hold a fresh trial.
