Dubai: A visitor who claimed in court yesterday that he was under the sway of the devil when he secretly filmed women shoppers in a hypermarket has been jailed for three months.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 47-year-old Syrian visitor of secretly taking indecent videos of an unidentified number of women wearing miniskirts at Deira City Centre's Carrefour.
"I did not have any intention to libel or harm anyone. I only intended to take photos just for the sake of photography. I was mistaken in doing so but I was enticed by the devil," M.M. said in a contrite voice when he appeared before Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad in courtroom four.
According to the charge sheet, M.M. activated the video mode on his mobile phone camera and secretly filming women shoppers who wore short skirts.
Prosecutors said the defendant placed his phone in the shopping basket and approached women wearing miniskirts on the sly.
"Why did you take those photos?" Presiding Judge Abdul Jawad asked M.M.
Leniency plea
"The devil seduced me when I did that… I am sorry and would ask the court for mercy and leniency.
The judge asked M.M. again why he took the photos and whether he saw them.
"Sir I did not mean any harm. I just took the photos for the sake of taking photos… and I didn't have the chance to see them because my mobile phone was confiscated," M.M. said.
The judge later passed a three-month jail term on M.M. followed by deportation.
An Emirati lieutenant testified that one of the security guards at the hypermarket spotted the defendant secretly taking photos of women wearing miniskirts with his mobile phone. "The guard said he spotted the man on surveillance cameras placing his mobile phone in the shopping basket and filming women. The accused was arrested and taken for questioning. We confiscated his phone," said the lieutenant.
The judgment remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
