Dubai: A man and a woman have been accused of stealing Dh110,000 from a vendor after the woman lured him to flat for a Dh50 massage, heard a court on Thursday.
The Indian vendor was said to have taken the money from his boss and went to purchase video games from Naif Souq in July.
The vendor was walking on the pavement when a woman who wore a sheila and abaya stopped him, according to records, and offered him a massage for Dh50 in a nearby flat.
After he agreed, the Indian accompanied the woman to a building and went up with her to the flat, said records.
Shortly after they entered the flat, the woman asked the vendor to get undressed but he panicked and refused to comply.
A man suddenly came out from the washroom and assaulted him with an iron bar then stole the money from his bag. The woman ran away and the man kicked the vendor out and locked himself inside the flat.
The Indian called the police who came and broke down the door but the man had absconded from the flat.
Primary police interrogations revealed the involvement of a 49-year-old Azeri woman and her 39-year-old countryman.
Records did not mention how or where were they apprehended.
Prosecutors accused the Azeri couple of assaulting the vendor and robbing from him Dh110,000.
The suspects entered a not guilty plea when they showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
“I have no connection to this case. The police coerced me to confess to a crime that I didn’t commit,” the male suspect argued before presiding judge Habib Awad.
The woman suspect contended that she had nothing to do with the case.
The Indian vendor claimed to prosecutors that the woman suspect stopped him in a dark alley and offered him a massage.
“I accompanied her to a nearby studio. When she asked me to take off my clothes, I refused. Then the male suspect came out from the bathroom and struck me with the bar. He took the cash and the woman rushed out of the flat. The man locked me out and I called the police. When they came and stormed into the flat, the 39-year-old suspect was gone,” he testified to prosecutors.
The suspects’ lawyer will present his defence when the court reconvenes on December 20.
