Three jailed for robbing women at knifepoint in their Dubai flat

Three men who forced their way into a flat and robbed the three women who lived there at knife-point have been sentenced to six months in jail each.

DUBAI // Three men who forced their way into a flat and robbed the three women who lived there at knifepoint were each sentenced to six months in jail.

The two Emiratis and an Iraqi, aged between 18 and 20, barged into the apartment in Al Qusais on February 15 while the women, all from Tajikistan, were at home cleaning.

One of the women opened the front door after hearing the doorbell. She was expecting a delivery from a supermarket.

“When I opened, two men barged in and one of them slapped me and threw me to the floor,” said the 26-year old, adding that the third defendant joined them a few minutes later.

The men ordered her and her two flatmates to bring them everything valuable in the flat.

“One of them was turning the lights off and on to scare us and they pointed the knives to our necks as the three of us cried,” the woman said.

The women placed watches, passports, mobile phones, bottles of perfume, jewellery and cash in a bag which the men took before they threatened to kill them if they called the police.

“They told us they would be watching closely,” said one of the women, 28.

Court records did not explain how the men were arrested.

Prosecutors said during questioning they confessed to charges of trespassing, issuing threats to kill and armed robbery. The Iraqi will be deported after completing his jail term.