Dubai: A woman has been jailed for three months for stealing her aunt’s passport and using it at the Dubai airport immigration, when she went to Turkey on vacation.

The unemployed woman, 23, who does not carry personal identification papers, flew out of Dubai International Airport to Turkey, using an original passport in May 2018.

Upon her return, she presented the same passport to the immigration officer, before it was discovered that the young woman was using someone else’s passport.

The defendant was then taken into custody.

 Afterwards, it was found that my niece had stolen my passport and used it to travel. When I asked the family, they told me that my niece told them that evening that she was going out with her friends; but later, she switched off her phone and didn’t come home.”

 - Emirati woman | Complainant 


Police investigations revealed that she stole her aunt’s passport and used it as her travel document.

The defendant pleaded guilty at the Dubai Court of First Instance, after she was convicted of stealing her aunt’s passport and using it to travel.

The Emirati aunt told prosecutors that she discovered her passport missing from her cupboard. “I went to the police and reported to them that I had lost my passport. Upon checking the immigration e-records, they notified me that someone who flew out to Turkey had used my passport.

Afterwards, it was found that my niece had stolen my passport and used it to travel. When I asked the family, they told me that my niece told them that evening that she was going out with her friends; but later, she switched off her phone and didn’t come home,” the aunt testified.

The defendant admitted to prosecutors that she told her parents she was with a friend, but had actually travelled to Turkey for two weeks.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal.