An Emirati mother and five family members have been jailed for a total of 12 years after abducting and torturing a man who befriended her teenage daughter online.
The woman, her two sons and three of their male cousins, stabbed the Emirati man, threatened to kill him and forced him to strip naked during a horrifying ordeal lasting several hours.
The victim, whose age was not disclosed in court, had struck up a friendship with the 18-year-old woman on social media and the pair had later met up in person in Dubai.
During their meeting, the man urged her to contact police after she told him she was being abused by her family.
Just days later the man received a phone call from one of the woman's brothers claiming she had gone missing and asking for his help to track her down.
When he agreed to meet, he was taken captive by four members of the family.
“An SUV stopped in front of my taxi and four men stepped out and dragged me out,” the victim told Dubai Criminal Court.
He was held captive in a house, during which time he was injected with an unknown substance which made him lose consciousness.
The captors took pictures of the man after making him undress and warned they would post the images online if he spoke to police.
He was then thrown into a vehicle and dumped outside a clinic in Dubai.
He was rushed to Rashid Hospital for treatment after being discovered by staff.
Police were alerted and identified the family with the help of the victim.
The court heard the sustained attack occurred in September of last year.
The mother, 54, her sons, 19 and 27, and their three cousins, 20, 22, and 23, were convicted of attempted murder, kidnap, sexual assault and making death threats.
They were each jailed for two years.