Durban gay sex blackmail accused granted bail

A Pietermaritzburg man who allegedly blackmailed a doctor with a gay sex tape has been granted bail.

Panel beater Zaid Alli Hoosain, 29, is accused of extorting more than R300,000 from the doctor after he allegedly threatened to post the footage on social media and ruin the man’s career and family.

According to the Sunday Tribune, it’s believed that the two men met near Virginia Airport in Durban and that the doctor was lured to Hoosain’s flat in Morningside where they had sex.

Hoosain allegedly secretly filmed their tryst and used the footage to blackmail the doctor on an ongoing basis. He also allegedly twice damaged the other man’s car.

It’s not the first time that Hoosain has been accused of a similar crime. He already has a previous conviction for similarly extorting money from four other well-off men he met at the airfield.

Hoosain received a five-year suspended prison sentence last year and had to pay a R10,000 fine on these charges. Shockingly, he was out on bail for the extortion charges at the time that he was allegedly blackmailing the doctor.

“When he stood trial for similar offences, he continued to extort money from victims using violence and force. He has demonstrated a propensity to re-offend and it seems likely he will interfere with the complainant,” said prosecutor Yuri Gangai.

Despite this, acting magistrate Logan Perumal granted Hoosain R15,000 bail in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.

Hoosain, who has a child and got married in January (presumably to a woman), has insisted that he is innocent of the charges. He claimed in an affidavit that the doctor had owed him money.

OUT, the LGBT health and well-being group in Pretoria, has previously noted that closeted men who have sex with men are especially vulnerable to abuse.

“Due to stigma, discrimination and homophobia, many men create hidden ways to meet other men, such as utilising online dating services, chat rooms, and/or unsafe cruising spots,” explained Dawie Nel, Director of OUT. He said that they risk “the possibility of being blackmailed, being targeted with false charges, theft and even being murdered.”