Dubai: An army corporal has been jailed for seven years for raping his housemaid in his bedroom after asking her to wash his uniform.

The 37-year-old Emirati corporal was said to have handed his uniform to the 29-year-old Filipina to wash it shortly after returning from duty.

Then he dragged her into his bedroom where he raped her in November 2013.

“I didn’t have sex with her,” said the accused when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

His lawyer told presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat: “She [the housemaid] exchanged phone calls and SMSs with my client. She is the one who invited him to her room. She tried to extort money from him when she complained. She blackmailed him and asked for money to waive her accusation.”

The Filipina testified that she was washing her sponsor’s uniform when the incident took place.

“He arrived home at 3pm and directly handed me his dress for washing. When he learnt that there was nobody at home, the defendant pulled me and forced me into his bedroom. He pinned me down to the floor, removed my clothes and had sex with me. He also had bizarre sex with me. Once he finished, he went to the bathroom to wash, so I rushed to my bedroom and locked myself inside. He came and repeatedly knocked on the door... but I did not answer. He apologised to me in English but I asked him to leave me alone. When he left by car, I immediately rushed out of the house and went to the Philippines consulate.”

Records said consulate staff referred the woman to the recruitment agency that flew her into Dubai.

The agency’s staff took the woman to hospital. An officer told prosecutors that the Filipina guided them to her sponsor’s house in Oud Al Mutainah.

“The suspect refused to open the door… but after obtaining prosecutors’ permission to arrest him, one of the policemen climbed the villa’s wall and opened the door from inside. We examined the bedroom where the incident happened. The accused was taken into custody and admitted during questioning that he had sex with the housemaid,” said the policeman.

Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.