Dubai: Two men who stole a bag belonging to a Saudi traveler in Dubai unlocked her mobile phone and threatened to publish her private pictures unless she paid them Dh2,000, a court heard.
The two Egyptian defendants stole her bag and threatened to publish pictures of her in skimpy clothes if she didn’t pay them the money. According to records at the Dubai court of First Instance, she used an easy password to protect her i-phone aand defendants opened the phone by typing numbers 1 to 6.
The 28-year-old Saudi woman testified that she planned to travel by bus to Al Ain from Dubai in August 2019, when the 25-year-old Egyptian defendant offered to load her two bags on the bus.
She was paying the bus fee when he told her that he put the bag in the bus. She didn’t realise that he had stolen one of her bags until she arrived in Al Ain.
“I had phones and other belongings inside the bag. My password for the phone includes numbers 1 to 6. After two days, I got a call from a friend saying the defendant claimed that he found my phone. When I contacted him, he said that the password was weak and that even a baby could open it,” the Saudi woman said.
He then sent her clips and pictures from her phone showing her with friends in parties and threatened to publish the clips if she didn’t pay Dh2,000.
After a few days, the defendants published nude pictures on her Twitter account.
She reported the incident to Dubai Police who apprehended the two defendants.
They were charged with theft, issuing threats and breach of privacy.
Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday sentenced the pair to three years in jail to be followed by deportation and a fine of Dh23,000.
The verdict will be subject to appeal within 15 days.
