"They locked the door and filmed me after forcibly taking off my clothes."

Four women stood trial on Sunday at a Dubai court for allegedly locking up a tourist inside a flat by intimidation and robbing Dh4,500. Public prosecution records show how the four Nigerian women, aged between 28 and 33, lured the Uzbek man to their flat with cards that advertised massage services.

The incident happened on June 6. The women denied charges of illegal confinement under threat and intimidation, breaching a man's modesty and robbery, as they stood trial at the Court of First Instance.

The incident was reported at Al Rafaa police station.

The complainant, a 24-year-old, recounted to the prosecution investigators how he found a massage card and contacted the number on WhatsApp. "I went to the flat after the contact person gave me its location. As soon as I stepped inside the flat, five African women attacked me. They locked the door and filmed me after forcibly taking off my clothes. I was tied up as they stole Dh4,500 from me. They told me to leave after threatening me not to call the police. They fled the place shortly later."

A Pakistani security guard said he spotted three women "running out of the building" at 11pm. "One of the defendants, 33, had sub-let the flat to a Nigerian man. I saw the police officers arriving shortly later and heard they were responding to a robbery incident report."

A police corporal said the women were involved in another similar incident with the same modus operandi. "We tracked them down and apprehended them at another flat on June 21.

The building in this case is not equipped with surveillance cameras."

The complainant identified some of the robbers at the police station.

The trial has been postponed to November 20.

mary@khaleejtimes.com