DUBAI // A man admitted fixing a camera in the shower of his two female flatmates - telling a court that he did so to monitor their water consumption.

Prosecutors told the Criminal Court that SL, a 32-year-old Filipina, noticed a circular disc in the ceiling of her bathroom on July 14 at about 1pm - shortly after she had finished showering. She called her female roommate, MP, a 33-year-old compatriot, and pointed at the disc, which was fixed inside a hole made in the ceiling.

The pair then opened the disc and found a camera inside. They then took out its memory card to check its content. "I opened it on my laptop and saw two clips of both of us naked showering and at the beginning of each one [our male flatmate] was shown while fixing the camera," said the woman.

The two women then confronted their flatmate, MF, a 40-year-old Filipino.

They said that he apologised, started crying and begged them not to tell anybody, but they told him and his wife to pack their bags and leave within two days. They then reported him to police.

They told officers they first became suspicious when they noticed their flatmate using their bathroom - despite having his own.

Police investigations found that the man had some recordings of the women showering that dated back to 2008.

The man, a sales executive, was charged with sexual assault. "I installed the camera to see how much water they are consuming," he told the judge.

The next hearing was scheduled for November 14.

salamir@thenational.ae