28th August, 2019
Three Nigerian women are on trial in Dubai for allegedly luring an Iraqi man to their apartment, beating him up and stealing his Dh57,000.
A Dubai court heard the case on Monday.
The 45-year-old Iraqi victim arrived in Dubai in April of this year and got to know a woman, whom he thought was a Swedish student, through a dating app. After they spoke on the phone, they agreed to meet at her apartment in Al Quoz. The victim was staying in Sharjah.
But when the victim arrived the woman’s home, he was met by a group of African women who attacked him.
“The apartment door opened and five African women dragged me inside and physically abused me,” said the Iraqi man.
The Nigerian women slapped him and asked for money. He gave them Dh1,600 to let him go, but they searched his pockets and found Dh55,975.
“They were so happy when they found this amount of cash that they stopped searching me. I was terrified that they would kill me, so I pretended to have breathing problems so they would let me go,” he added. The trader said he would have been stripped of all his money as he actually had Dh155,000 on him, which was wired to him from Iraq.
“I also told them to give me some money to take a cab. I did not want them to know I was carrying another Dh100,000,” he said.
The women gave him Dh600 and let him go.
He went to a security guard and waited outside the flat until the police arrived.
“Two suspects had already left while two others were caught while trying to jump out of a window,” the trader said.
A policeman said the robbery incident was reported at 2:30pm. “We arrested three female suspects as they were trying to flee the area. The man said they were among the other women who assaulted and robbed him of cash.”
The defendants allowed him to leave but he alerted the building’s security and kept waiting in front of the apartment. When Dubai Police arrived, the defendants jumped out of the window to escape.
An Emirate police officer, who responded to the call, said, “The women escaped and we chased them on foot. We arrested three of them and the victim identified them before taking them to Bur Dubai police station.”
The three Nigerian women aged 30, 33 and 34, were charged with robbery. A verdict is expected later this month, Gulf News reports.
Meanwhile, Dubai Public Prosecution charged the Iraqi victim with soliciting prostitution.
He was fined Dh5,000 and deported. The Nigerians too face deportation after their trial.