Man in UAE threatens to disgrace woman over her boyfriend's Dh4,000 debt

Dubai - He was sentenced to three years in jail.

A man was sentenced in absentia on Wednesday to three years in prison by the Dubai Court of First Instance for threatening and blackmailing a woman that he would disgrace her among her family, friends and colleagues and on social media.

According to public prosecution records, the French man, who is at large, blackmailed the victim, also a French, as he wanted her boyfriend to pay a debt he owed him.

The threats were issued from September 28 to October 6 last year. Some of them read: "I will track you down whether you are in Dubai or Paris," and "I will hire someone to find you and defame you."

The court found him guilty of verbally abusing the woman and using her car without her approval. He inflicted Dh3,000 worth of damage on the car and stole her boyfriend's three mobile phones.

A deportation order was issued against him.

The victim, a 30-year-old manager, said that on September 28, last year, she was leaving for France. "I left my car with my boyfriend. However, I was surprised to receive messages from the defendant on WhatsApp from three numbers. He said my car was with him and he wanted me to pay him Dh4,000. He sent a video clip of my photos, passport and personal conversations stored in my boyfriend's phones."

The runaway accused threatened the complainant that he would get in touch with her family and tell them about her relation. "He said he would send those photos and conversations to my family unless my boyfriend paid back his debt. He also threatened to damage my reputation on social media," she told the public prosecution investigator.

After he sent her messages with abusive language, she lodged a complaint against him.

Copies of WhatsApp conversations were found to contain threats, verbal abuse and the defendant's acknowledgement that he stole the other man's mobile phones, as shown in a report from the General Directorate of Criminal Evidence and Forensics.

The defendant admitted to the police that he used the complainant's car, insulted and threatened her and stole the phones.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai