Dubai Court jails 7 Asians for torture, robbery

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Appellate Court upheld the Criminal Court’s ruling to imprison 7 Asians for 7 years, fine them jointly Dhs4,400 and deport them after serving their jail term.

The suspects detained, tortured and photographed a compatriot in indecent positions due to a financial dispute between one of them and the victim.

The details date back to January 2020, when the victim filed a report complaining that he had been assaulted and detained by some Asians.

According to the case papers, the victim refused to pay a debt to the first suspect who kidnapped the victim, conniving with the other convicts who went to the place where the victim resided and forcibly pushed him into a vehicle.

The victim said in investigations that the first suspect and others took him to a villa in the Satwa area in Dubai, forced him into it and detained him for two days, where they beat him up in different parts of his body with hands and iron rods.

The victim added that the suspects stole Dhs2,300 from him, as well as his ID card and mobile phone, then they started torturing him and forcing him to lick the floor with his tongue, brushing his teeth with a broom for the bathroom, shaving his head, stripping him completely, photographing him naked with their phones, and threatening to publish videos and kill his family members if he did not return the amount of the debt. The victim reported the incident to the police, who later arrested the suspects.

On being questioned, they confessed to the crimes and were consequently referred to the Public Prosecution and then to the Criminal Court.

Recently, the Dubai Court of Appeal ruled that the jail term of a gang of 7 Asians be increased from 3 to 5 years to be followed by deportation after being convicted of stealing Dhs289,000.

The court also ruled that they be fined Dhs290,000.

The case dated back to last March when the victim filed a complaint that he had been robbed and assaulted by 7 Asians.

According to his testimony, two of the gang pushed him into the company’s headquarters and the rest followed them.

One of the perpetrators put his hand on his mouth to prevent him from screaming and threatened him with a knife, he said.

The victim stated that he obeyed the orders of the gang for fear of harming him but they later tied him up and stole his wallet, which contained sums of foreign currency.

They also found the key of a safe, opened it and stole Dhs289,000 and IR3,000 from it before they fled.