UAE: Woman on trial for blackmailing 60-year-old man who reneged on promise to marry her

Sharjah - He promised to find her a suitable job in the country instead.

A 35-year-old Arab woman is facing trial at the Sharjah Misdemeanour Court for blackmailing a 60-year-old Gulf national. The complainant said that the woman was blackmailing him by threatening to post recorded telephone conversations between them on social media after he refused to marry her.

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According to police records, the complainant met the defendant about a year ago through a marriage website to which they were both subscribed. They exchanged texts over social media, before moving on to video phone calls for more than a month, and deciding to get married.

The condition for the marriage, however, was that it must be held in secret and celebrations had to be restricted to her side of the family only, so that he could later tell his family about his marriage to another woman.

Accordingly, the defendant arrived at the country on a visit visa to meet the complainant and complete the formalities of her residency visa.

Investigations confirmed that, two months after her arrival, the accused began threatening the complainant that she would publish audio recordings of their phone calls, after he told her he could no longer marry her.

He said that his family circumstances did not allow him to do so and promised to search for a suitable job opportunity for her instead. However, she refused and threatened to disclose their relationship to his wife, which prompted the man to file a report with the police.

The defendant admitted her threats to the plaintiff, and justified her actions by saying she had suffered psychological damages and embarrassment as well as loss of reputation among her family, friends and acquaintances.

• Sharjah