A man was robbed at knifepoint before being forced to strip down to his underwear in a Dubai street, a court heard.
The Egyptian assailant, 21, allegedly pointed the blade to the victim's waist and demanded he hand over cash.
When he refused, the attacker is said to have snatched mobile phones from the man's hand.
The incident occurred at about 11.30pm on December 5, in the Muraqqabat area of Deira.
“He pointed a knife to my waist and dragged me to a side road, then asked for my cash but I refused, so he pulled the phones out of my hand,” said the victim.
Dubai Criminal Court heard the victim - whose age and nationality were not disclosed - bravely tried to grab the knife from the offender's grasp only to hurt himself in the process.
The defendant is said to have then made the man take off all his clothing - except for his underwear - in order to prevent him giving chase when he fled the scene.
The victim later called police, who tracked down the suspect two weeks later.
During police questioning, the defendant admitted attacking the man with a knife and stealing from him.
“He told us that he saw the man coming out of a shopping mall and followed him before attacking him,” said a policeman.
The accused denied a theft charge at a court hearing on Sunday.
The case was adjourned until February 9.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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