Dubai: A woman has accused a man, with whom she had a seven-month affair, of taking pictures of her naked and using them to blackmail her.
The 23-year-old Indian woman, an airline employee, is believed to have allowed the 34-year-old Sri Lankan man, a swimming instructor, to take pictures of her in compromising positions during the affair.
The woman alleged that after the relationship ended, the man threatened to make the pictures public if she did not pay him Dh10,000.
She claimed to have paid him Dh2,000, but when she failed to pay the remaining amount, the man allegedly sent the pictures to her uncle and sister.
The woman filed a police complaint against the man and both of them were taken into custody.
Prosecutors charged them with having sex outside marriage. The man was additionally charged with threatening to dishonour the woman and trying to obtain money from her under duress.
The man was produced before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday. However, presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat decided to return the case file to the Public Prosecution to modify the Penal Code’s articles upon which the defendant should stand trial.
The woman admitted to prosecutors that she had an affair with the defendant. “He used his iPhone to take naked photos of me. Once I broke up with him, he sent the photos to my uncle on Facebook. He did so to make it seem like I wanted to marry him … I had earlier informed him that if he did not break up with me, I would tell my uncle to complain to the police... Later, he sent the photos to my sister on Whatsapp. He demanded Dh10,000 for erasing the photos and not informing my family… I paid him Dh2,000. After I failed to pay him Dh8,000, he sent the pictures to my uncle and sister,” she said.
According to records, the defendant took seven pictures of the woman.
In his prosecution statement, he admitted sending the pictures to the woman’s uncle.
The couple is standing trial before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court for having consensual sex.
