Actress locked up in Dubai after ‘threatening to put up about buddy’

A British Bollywood actress claims she was detained in Dubai for two months after she threatened to post about a friend on social media.

Sofia Hayat, 39, who has starred in Waterloo Road and in the Indian version of Big Brother, was on a week long trip when she got in trouble.

She fell out with someone she claims borrowed money from her – and she threatened to out them on Instagram, she said.

She thought nothing of it until she tried to get on a flight – when her passport was seized by police who put her in a cell for six hours, questioning her for a further six hours, she claims.

Sofia had unknowingly broken strict laws around posting defamatory comments on social media.

Told to stay in Dubai – and without her passport – she was forced to rent AirBnbs in Dubai for two months.

Sofia from Battersea, London, was finally allowed home without a fine or imprisonment after she was brought before a judge, she says.

But she claims her extended stay cost her £20,000 – and she lost a further £20,000 of business as a spiritual healer while she was away.

Speaking now she is back in the UK, Sofia said: ‘Dubai is actually a hell hole.

‘I expected a modern country full of glamour, wealth and all the amazing things it appears to be on Instagram and TikTok.

‘That’s all a lie. I’ll never go back.

‘Being held like that is horrible. I was heartbroken and it was extremely lonely.

‘I was constantly cancelling clients because I couldn’t go home and worried all the time that I’d lose them.

‘I couldn’t book a long-term place to stay because I had no idea how long I’d have to be there.

‘I was having trouble sleeping. I had no idea I’d committed a crime until I contacted the public prosecutor. I just wanted to go home.’

Sofia flew to Dubai on December 28 last year from London – and was due to be there for seven days.

She fought with a friend who she claims borrowed money from her – and threatened to post about it on social media, she said.

So instead of seeing out the rest of her trip in Dubai, she tried to go to Saudi Arabia to spend New Year’s Eve with a friend.

But at Dubai International Airport her passport was taken and she was held by police from 3am to 3pm, being questioned by up to five officers, she said.

The cell she was in was ‘freezing, dirty, and small’, she said.

Her phone was taken and she wasn’t allowed to call anyone – but after six hours she was allowed to text a friend, she claims.

‘They just threw me in a cell – they didn’t tell me anything,’ she said.

‘When I asked what was going on, the policeman just told me to “shut up”.

‘At first I was having panic attacks. I was shaking and crying as they questioned me.

‘They kept saying I’d threatened to expose a sex tape. I threatened to expose a name.

‘In the end they did let me go, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the country.

‘Eventually I coped by meditating – I just imagined myself in London laughing about being detained in Dubai.’

Sofia payed £250 a week for AirBnbs and had to attend the police station twice a week, she said.

After eight weeks she was told by the public prosecutor that threatening to put someone’s name on social media is actually a crime in Dubai, she said.

She said the penalty for her actions could be two years in jail or a £50,000 fine.

At a hearing the judge authorised her release after it was heard money was owed, she said.

However she is unsure exactly what happened in the hearing, because it was all in Arabic, she says.

She was given no penalty and her passport was returned, she claims.

Sofia was charged £400 at the Dubai airport for overstaying on her visa, she said, and flew home on February 26.

‘I think the only reason I got out is because I have a British passport and I’m an ex Bollywood actress,’ she said.

The British Embassy in Dubai did not respond to a request for a comment.