Police arrest would-be thief in women’s clothing

Dubai A man has been accused of cross-dressing after police said they found him walking like a man while wearing an abaya and a niqab in a street. Police said the 35-year-old Frenchman said he dressed in the abaya to steal jewellery and sell it to repay a €1 million (Dh4.6 million) debt he had accumulated in Paris. Police suspected 35-year-old K.K., when they saw him walking in the street, and they arrested him when they realised he maybe a man despite being covered from top to bottom. Prosecutors charged K.K. with cross-dressing by wearing women’s clothing, covering his hands with black gloves and carrying a female purse. He was also accused of using a different name during a police investigation, by claiming he was an Algerian named A.J. When the suspect appeared at Dubai Misdemeanour Court, he could not admit or deny the accusations as there was no French language translator. “I don’t understand English, I only speak French,” K.K. told Presiding Judge Ali Saad. The policemen who found the man said nothing was revealed from his body except his eyes. Walk like a man One of the arresting police officers called K.K. and asked him to stop when he noticed that he walked like a man. The suspect did not reply and continued walking into a shop. The policemen followed him inside. When one of them tried to speak to him, K.K. tried to soften his voice and spoke like a woman. The two policemen insisted he was a man and asked him to remove his niqab. They were greeted with a long beard. Police searched his purse and confiscated a toy gun, knife and plastic tape in his possession. During prosecution questioning, K.K. claimed he was a merchant but had suffered major financial loss and accumulated €1 million in debt in Paris. “I could not repay my debts. I decided to visit Dubai and steal diamonds then sell it to be able to cover my debts. I took my wife’s abaya and niqab then came here. I came here on May 30 and I got arrested on June 1. I purchased the confiscated items from Mall of the Emirates. I stood in front of the shop that I was planning to rob before the policemen suspected me. My debt is what urged me to do this… I dressed up like a woman to steal,” claimed K.K. The court reconvenes on July 2.