DUBAI // Two men lured another man into their hotel room to abuse him and steal from him by sending him a WhatsApp photo of a beautiful woman whom he thought he was meeting, a court heard.
However, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Monday that the Portuguese man was instead forced to strip naked while he was filmed before he was robbed.
He said that he had been chatting with a beautiful woman on the social media app and, after arriving in the UAE, she sent him her picture and location. He agreed to meet in her hotel room in Oud Metha on February 18.
“When I got there, a big woman with tattoos opened the door for me then two men appeared and attacked me,” the Portuguese said. “They stripped me naked and filmed a video of me naked.”
He said that the pair assaulted him then threatened to post the recording online if he did not give up his money and credit cards. After he handed them over he was locked in the toilet.
“I didn’t hear their voices after about 15 minutes so I got out of the toilet then called police,” he said.
The pair allegedly took Dh2,500 in cash and used the man’s card to withdraw cash then bought Dh7,000 worth of items using his credit card.
A policeman testified that the pair’s ploy was to hunt down victims through social media after posing as a beautiful woman offering sex for money.
Police managed to apprehend the defendants through the documents they used to rent the hotel room.
The Nigerian defendants, aged 31 and 33, denied charges of theft, sex assault and breaching the modesty of a person.
A verdict is expected on May 25.
salamir@thenational.ae