A British Bollywood actress claims she was detained in Dubai for two months after she threatened to post about a friend on social media.<br /><br />Sofia Hayat, 39, who has starred Waterloo Road and in the Indian version of Big Brother, was on a week long trip when she got in trouble.<br /><br />She fell out with someone she claims borrowed money from her - and she threatened to out them on Instagram, she said.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Sofia had unknowingly broken strict laws around posting defamatory comments on social media.<br /><br />Told to stay in Dubai - and without her passport - she was forced to rent AirBnbs in Dubai for two months.<br /><br />Sofia from Battersea, London, was finally allowed home without a fine or imprisonment after she was brought before a judge, she says.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Speaking now she is back in the UK, Sofia said: "Dubai is actually a hell hole.<br /><br />"I expected a modern country full of glamour, wealth and all the amazing things it appears to be on Instagram and TikTok.<br /><br />"That's all a lie.<br /><br />"I'll never go back.<br /><br />"Being held like that is horrible. I was heartbroken and it was extremely lonely.<br /><br />"I was constantly cancelling clients because I couldn't go home and worried all the time that I'd lose them.<br /><br />"I couldn't book a long-term place to stay because I had no idea how long I'd have to be there.<br /><br />"I was having trouble sleeping.<br /><br />"I had no idea I'd committed a crime until I contacted the public prosecutor.<br /><br />"I just wanted to go home."<br /><br />Sofia flew to Dubai on December 28 last year from London - and was due to be there for seven days.<br /><br />She fought with a friend who she claims borrowed money from her - and threatened to post about it on social media, she said.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The cell she was in was "freezing, dirty, and small", she said.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />"They just threw me in a cell - they didn't tell me anything," she said.<br /><br />"When I asked what was going on, the policeman just told me to 'shut up'.<br /><br />"At first I was having panic attacks. I was shaking and crying as they questioned me.<br /><br />"They kept saying I'd threatened to expose a sex tape.<br /><br />"I threatened to expose a name.<br /><br />"In the end they did let me go, but I wasn't allowed to leave the country.<br /><br />"Eventually I coped by meditating - I just imagined myself in London laughing about being detained in Dubai."
