DUBAI // A man falsely reported that his wife had been kidnapped after he sold her to two men for sex, a court heard this morning.
The 48-year-old Bangladeshi MS denied the charges before the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours, saying that police misunderstood him and that he had no formal connection with the woman. Prosecutors charged him with filing a bogus report.
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AS, a police officer from the Naif station, testified that on February 19, he had received a report while on patrol that a man had reported his wife kidnapped.
The patrol found MS about 8pm on Baqir Yusuf Road, waiting behind the Freedoni Building surrounded by people, AS said.
When questioned, MS said he was walking with his wife when a black car with two men inside, one in Emirati traditional dress and another in black trousers, stopped, grabbed his wife and drove off.
Records show that while patrol officers were speaking with him, a woman was calling his mobile but he turned down all the calls. When they asked him about them, MS broke down and confessed that the woman was his wife and that he had given her to the men to have sex with her in return for money.
During prosecution investigations, however, he changed his story again and said the woman, a compatriot, was merely a friend and that police officers had misunderstood him.
"I have been living here for 20 years and what happened is just a misunderstanding," he told prosecutors.
He said the woman was his friend and called him to meet her. When he did so, he saw two men take her away, so he called police and reported the incident, he testified.
ME, an Afghani man who works at the car park where the alleged kidnappers parked their vehicle, told prosecutors the woman walked willingly with the men but was crying and begging them to let her go.
"She was not screaming or seeking help of people who were around," ME said.
The next hearing will be on August 3.
salamir@thenational.ae