Filipino jailed in Dubai for taking pictures with his iPhone

A legal accountant has been jailed for six months after a court convicted him yesterday of taking indecent pictures of a Filipina as she used the toilet.

The Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the 29-year-old Filipino legal accountant after Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad convicted him of breaching the Filipina’s modesty and molesting her.

When the accused, R.P., appeared in Courtroom Four earlier this month, he apologized for using his iPhone’s camera to breach the modesty of the 28-year-old woman.

Prosecutors accused R.P. of molesting 28-year-old M.I. and taking indecent images of her while she was undressed and using the bathroom.

“Yes I am guilty your honor… I apologize for what happened,” contended the accused when he defended himself in court.

According to the arraignment sheet, prosecutors said the defendant breached the woman’s privacy and modesty and molested her by taking pictures of her with his iPhone.

Prosecution records said 28-year-old M.I. spotted the camera lens focused towards her while she was on the toilet seat.

“My sister had warned me the earlier day that she had discovered a camera lens placed inside a skirt and focused towards the inside of the bathroom,” claimed M.I. in her prosecution statement.

Spotted

“My sister asked me to be careful because she thought that maybe a woman had forgotten her mobile phone in the skirt. But when I sat on the toilet seat, immediately I spotted a small rug [hung on the door's hangers] which had a small hole and the lens was focused towards me,” she said.

“The iPhone was knitted to the back of the rug and covered with a cloth… I discovered a 31-minute video recording. Immediately we informed the police and handed them the phone.”

Pronouncing yesterday’s judgment, Presiding Judge Abdul Jawad said the accused will be deported after the completion of his imprisonment.

The primary judgment remains subject to appeal within 15 days.