Dubai: A businessman has been jailed for three years for beating and threatening to harm a businesswoman he thought had stolen the designs of the abayas he sells at Global Village.
The Jordanian businesswoman was at her booth that she manages at one of the clusters of Global Village and discussing business with a Syrian vendor in December.
The 37-year-old Palestinian businessman came from behind and beat her hard.
Then he grabbed her by her collar and pulled her off the chair before he threatened to slaughter her if she did not waive a criminal case that she had lodged against him earlier, said records.
The Syrian vendor immediately rushed to the rescue of the businesswoman and pushed the Palestinian man out of the booth.
During the assault, the accused was heard saying that even if he was imprisoned, he would get out of jail and kill the Jordanian woman.
Police took the defendant into custody.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Palestinian defendant of verbally threatening to slaughter the Jordanian woman if she did not drop her criminal complaint against him and assaulting her.
According to the primary ruling, the defendant will be deported after serving his jail term.
The accused admitted in court that he had beaten up the businesswoman.
However, he denied threatening the woman and contended before the judge that he did not mean to threaten her but intended to scare her in order to make her drop her complaint.
The Jordanian woman said the defendant assaulted her brutally and threatened to slaughter her in front of the vendors and other witnesses.
“He took me by surprise from the back and beat me. He called me a magician and an arrogant person. He also insulted me before others when he said that I should repent otherwise he would slaughter me. He wanted me to waive my complaint against him,” she testified.
The Syrian vendor testified to prosecutors: “When I asked him why he assaulted her, the suspect claimed she had taken the designs of the abayas he had been selling and she sold the same designs … the suspect told me that he was angry with her and just beat her.”
The ruling remains subject to appeal.
