Dubai: An Emirati social media influencer has been accused of threatening his countrywoman of publishing her private pictures on SnapChat if she didn’t wire him Dh10,000. Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Tuesday that the 33-year-old defendant called the Emirati doctor in August 2020 and told her to book a hotel room for him in Dubai and pay the charges for that along with another Dh10,000. But the woman refused to do so.
He then threatened to publish the woman’s private pictures on social media.
“He said he would publish the pictures on SnapChat. I was surprised with his threats as I didn’t send him any picture, but he told me that he had hacked my account and obtained the pictures,” said the 36-year-old victim on record.
The nature of the relationship between the two was not mentioned in official records.
The next day, the defendant called her again, saying that he would be coming to Dubai from Abu Dhabi and asked her to step out of her house in Al Barsha to meet him, but she refused again.
“I was speaking to him when I heard a big noise outside the house, even as he told me to step out. I called Dubai Police when he started knocking on the door of the villa.”
The defendant left the house before the police patrol arrived. Once police reached the villa, they checked the surveillance cameras, which showed the defendant hitting the main gate of the villa with his car and getting out of the vehicle to knock on the door.
“Because of the incident, I left the house with my children and stayed in a hotel. My children refused to return to the house as they were scared when they woke up from sleep due to the noise at the gate,” added the victim.
Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with threatening the victim.
The next hearing is scheduled for November 10.
