Man 'kidnapped woman to keep as sex slave'

Suspect was wearing a mask and shocked her with a stun gun

DUBAI // A man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a woman he met online to use her as a sex slave.

Police detained AA, 40, after the woman escaped from the empty flat to which she said he had taken her.

Officers said they found chains, ropes and locks in the apartment.

"The tools, which we found in the apartment, suggest that the man had intended to keep the woman there for a long time to continuously … satisfy his sexual desires," said Lt Col Ahmed Al Merri, of Dubai Police CID.

The woman told police she had met AA online and he asked her to meet him in his building in Deira before going for a coffee.

But she said he appeared wearing a mask in the building's lobby and shocked her with a stun gun until she blacked out.

Police said AA, from an unidentified Arab country, dragged her to an empty apartment on the same floor.

"The suspect had broken into the apartment and taken it over after he monitored it for a while and realised that it was empty," Lt Col Al Merri said.

"The other apartments on the same floor are also without tenants."

The woman, from an Asian country, said the suspect started attacking her but stopped and went to lock the door.

She managed to escape through an open window and call for help. Police said the victim was not sexually assaulted.

"The investigators working on the case were very efficient and were able to catch the man within 45 minutes after being notified," said Brig Khalil Al Mansouri, the head of the CID.

AA was arrested on September 1 and police were investigating whether he was connected to other similar incidents.

He has been referred to public prosecution.