Trapped debtor hanged himself in Dubai

DUBAI // A man hanged himself after being kidnapped by two debt collectors, a court heard yesterday. Two Bangladeshi men, M O, a 33-year-old salesman, and N A, a 38-year-old worker, are charged at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance with kidnap and illegal confinement.A witness, Luqman Haider, told prosecutors he saw them take the debtor into a room and lock it from the outside.

Mr Haider said the men stood outside the room talking to him for half an hour about how they had abducted the debtor from his home in Ajman and brought him to Dubai to get their money. Records did not show how much the man, an unidentified Bangladeshi, owed. Mr Haider said when M O opened the door they found the debtor had hanged himself. Another witness, Mohammed Kifayat, told prosecutors he walked into the apartment and saw the men looking at the body while M O screamed, "What happened? What is this?"

According to prosecution records, M O then called Naif police station to report the suicide.  A police lieutenant told prosecutors the dead man was found hanging from a cloth tied to an overhead fan. M O and N A denied the charges. The court will reconvene next month. [e-mail]