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Dubai: Men are increasingly falling victims of shady massage service centres run by African women gangs, ending up being filmed naked, blackmailed and robbed.
Dubai’s law enforcement authorities have constantly cautioned men against heading to dubious places that are being promoted as massage parlours on massage cards distributed in streets, posted on car windshields or slid under doorsteps.
“There has been an increase in the number of cases involving African women who lure men to massage parlours, strip them naked at knifepoint or under threat and assault them. Then they threaten to publish their nude pictures before stealing their cash or credit cards,” a chief judge at Dubai’s criminal court told Gulf News.
He said that this can be described as a trendy crime or a crime that has been committed by number of African women, mostly visitors, in the same modus operandi. “Dubai Police and Public Prosecution have been successfully curbing that criminal bahaviour. In the past few weeks, Dubai prosecutors referred three cases of a similar nature to the Court of First Instance. Strangely, two of those cases were committed by the same four Nigerian women,” he added.
The four women, aged between 28 and 33, in two identical cases, deprived two men of their freedom when they lured them for a massage at a flat and then locked them inside, beat and threatened them.
Prosecutors said the defendants breached the tourists’ modesty when they undressed them and filmed them naked then threatened to kill him if he reported the matter to the police. They stole Dh60,300 from the first victim and Dh4,500 from the second.
The chief judge warned the public against such criminal gangs and urged them to be vigilant and judicious when choosing where to go to for a massage.
Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Prosecutor Ahmad Al Attar advised men not to go to unlicensed health spas or dubious massage parlours and instead choose licensed therapy and massage spas.
“All the pertinent authorities in Dubai have been cooperating and clubbing their efforts to combat such illegal activities. Men should not fall victims to activities that are promoted on massage cards that contain indecent images. There are many licensed spas and health centres that men could visit for a massage or therapy. When someone sees a business card promoting massage services in a hotel or a flat, then obviously that person should be wary. There have been cases involving women suspects who were referred to the criminal court for indulging in such activities,” he told Gulf News.
Men should check whether the places where they go for a massage are licensed, cautioned Al Attar.
Dubai Police recently arrested seven African women who lured victims to a massage parlour, stripped them naked, threatened to publish their nude pictures before stealing their cash.
In a third case, two Nigerian female tourists, 32 and 33, lured a businessman for a massage and stole his Dh100,000 at knifepoint after confining him in a hotel room in Al Barsha.
Meanwhile in a fourth case, a 35-year-old Nigerian woman visitor lured an engineer for a massage at a flat via a Facebook advertisement, then robbed his Dh179,000 after she threatened to kill him with a hot iron.
Two other Nigerian women, 26 and 37, assaulted and robbed a tourist in a hotel room in Naif in a fifth case.
The women suspects were accused of using a blonde woman’s photo to lure the tourist for a massage in a hotel room where they confined, beat and robbed him.
“Prosecutors always ask for the implementation of the toughest punishment applicable against those defendants as part of our role in combating that crime and enforcing deterrent penalties,” concluded Al Attar.
