Dubai: A taxi driver has been jailed for five years for abusing a mentally ill teenager and having forced sex with her after he lured her into a hotel apartment.
A car accident at the age of two caused the 18-year-old from the Comoros Islands suffer from a psychiatric disorder. Medical reports confirm that she is not responsible for her actions.
The 30-year-old Pakistani driver, A.F., was supposed to drop her off at the Burj Khalifa but instead he took her to a hotel apartment that he had rented for Dh100 and raped her in November 2013.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted A.F. of abusing and having forced sex with the girl despite having entered a not guilty plea.
The accused had alleged that they had consensual sex.
According to Thursday’s ruling, a 50-year-old Bangladeshi hotel supervisor, A.M., was acquitted of aiding and abetting A.F. by renting the room to him.
The two men pleaded not guilty.
Presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat said A.F. will be deported after serving his jail term.
A police lieutenant testified that the teenager went to Naif police station and complained the driver had forced her to have sex with him.
“She said the driver [whom she did not identify] picked her up from Sharjah and drove to Freij Al Murar. The victim purported that the defendant coerced her to enter the flat, where she claimed that he shouted at her and forced her to undress. After he finished, according to her statement, the driver left her in the same area and disappeared. The woman accompanied a police patrol to the location … we discovered that A.M. had rented the flat to A.F.,” said the lieutenant.
Records said the driver was detained in Hor Al Anz.
The 18-year-old told police interrogators she had asked the taxi driver to take her to the Burj Khalifa.
“He stopped in an area full of tailor shops and old stores. He asked me to step out of the taxi and follow him … he walked me into a room in an old house. He removed his clothes and asked me to do the same. He yelled at me loudly and I felt scared … so I removed my clothes. He had sex with me for 15 minutes, then he took me to a nearby street. He gave me Dh50, dropped me off and left.”
She was cited saying she takes medication for her disorder.
Meanwhile A.F. claimed to police interrogators the teenager had consensual sex with him.
“She stopped me in front of a luxury hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road. She sat in the front seat… while driving, she offered to have sex with me for money. I took her to the hotel. I paid her Dh200 after we finished … then she told me that she was going to have a shisha. I paid for the hotel and left,” the driver claimed.
Thursday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.