Bankrupt cleaner jailed for shaming flatmate

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

An insolvent cleaner who filmed his flatmate in the shower and publicised the clips in retaliation for the latter’s decision to relocate has been handed a prison term.

The Asian carpet cleaner, 30, lurked in a bathroom ceiling on Jan.2, filmed the Pakistani deliveryman, 22, using his mobile phone and publicised the explicit clips. Prosecutors accused him of breach of modesty.

They additionally accused him of misusing a telecom service to encroach on the victim’s privacy inside the bathroom in Al Satwa area, as per a complaint at the Bur Dubai Police Station. He skipped court questioning.

The Criminal Court imprisoned him for six months plus deportation. His mobile also contained inappropriate clips of children. The court ordered the mobile be confiscated and all indecent content be shredded.

In prosecution records, both were longtime friends since they met in Pakistan. While staying together in Dubai in December, the defendant borrowed money from several friends and failed to meet his obligations. Those friends started frequenting the flat to demand back their money. The victim felt uncomfortable with the daily situation and notified the defendant he would relocate. The defendant told him not to.

“He warned that I would regret it. I ignored his threats and relocated to another residence. Days later, I was stunned to see various people residing abroad WhatsApping me videos showing me having a shower.

“They told me the defendant was the one who shared the videos with them,” the victim said and revealed he immediately went to the Bur Dubai Police Station. “I had done nothing wrong to him apart from relocating. There were no prior disputes between us. I feel embarrassed most especially as the videos were circulated among acquaintances. He was not suffering from any mental illness nor had I seen him taking drugs.”

During police interrogations, the defendant told a lieutenant that following a dispute over rent matters, he climbed into the bathroom ceiling and filmed the victim as he bathed.