Students jailed in Dubai for Dh91,000 blackmail and beating of girl, 17

DUBAI // Four students who blackmailed a 17-year-old girl and forced her to steal cash and jewellery worth Dh91,000 from her mother to pay them will each spend a year in jail.

Pakistanis M H, 19, M A H, 20, M R, 18, and A H, 22, were found guilty of threatening to post private pictures of their compatriot, R L, on Facebook if she did not pay them.

They pushed the teenager to steal Dh14,000 from her mother, in addition to the jewellery, and when she could no longer pay, they assaulted her.

The four were also convicted of blackmail and physical assault, which they denied in court in August.

The victim told prosecutors she had been friends with M H since March 2014. On one occasion, he asked to use her phone. “I didn’t know he forwarded some of my private pictures from my device to his through WhatsApp,” said the girl. Soon after, M H asked for money.

“I told him I didn’t have much, so he threatened me, saying he had forwarded pictures from my phone and that he would post them on Facebook if I didn’t pay him – he even showed me the pictures,” said R L.

M H and his three friends posted private pictures of the girl’s friend as a threat, after which the teenager began stealing money from her mother’s purse. She said the four started sending her threatening text messages.

“In December 2014, M H was fined Dh4,000 after being involved in a traffic accident and forced me to pay the amount,” said R L.

In January last year, she stopped paying them and told them she would use the threatening text messages against them if they did not stop.

Prosecutors said M H met her and managed to delete all the messages from the girl’s phone. He then showed her a video clip of him and his friends assaulting a man and told her: “If you don’t pay, this will happen to you.”

On March 26, the girl paid them Dh8,000 and stole some of her mother’s jewellery. When she no longer had money or jewellery to give, they assaulted her. “I called police after they assaulted me,” said R L.

The four will be deported after serving their jail terms.