Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Court of Appeal doubled the penalty for kidnapping a girl by two Asians in complicity with another (fugitive) from 5 to 10 years in prison and fined them jointly Dhs170,000, to be followed by deportation.

The convicts reportedly kidnapped a girl, locked her up for three days inside a villa, and assaulted her, before they stole Dhs165,000 from her bank account and Dhs5,000 that were in her possession.

The incident dates back to July last year, when the convicts, including the one who is still at large, lured a compatriot girl through a social networking programme and rented a vehicle to carry out the crime.

According to the victim's statement, she knew the countryman via a social networking programme, before the latter invited her to attend a party held by a number of members of their community in Dubai.

The girl did not mind to attend the party and at the appointed time, the first suspect came in a vehicle, and as soon as she got into it, she was surprised by others beating her and threatening her with stun gun, the Court heard.

She also said that they had driven to a villa in Jebel Ali area, where they had stolen Dhs5,000 that she had in her possession.

They then seized her phone and transferred Dhs165,000 via internet banking to their accounts. They also assaulted her and photographed her in indecent positions.

The victim added that the gangsters had contacted her family in her home country through a messaging programme and blackmailed them by the photos and videos they filmed to get money from them. Communicate with the police and report the incident.

After three days of her detention, they folded her eyes and muzzled her mouth, before transferring her in a vehicle driven by one of them to another place, where she was able to contact the police and reported the incident.

A police officer also stated that an investigation team was able to identify the gang members and arrested two of the suspects.

One of them admitted that he knew the victim through a dating application and connived with the others to rob her. The second admitted that he rented a vehicle to carry out the crime, while the fugitive assaulted the victim.

All the suspects were involved in robbing the girl, the officer added.