Dubai: A saleswoman told a court on Wednesday that having acquired kickboxing skills in her schooldays gave her enough confidence to foil a businessman’s attempt to rape her.

“I learnt kick boxing when I was in school. I was not afraid of him so I stood up to him when he tried to rape me,” said the 32-year-old Kyrgyz saleswoman when she testified before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

The 32-year-old Syrian businessman, T.M., has pleaded not guilty and denied the accusation of beating the woman and attempting to rape her on his couch.

Prosecution records said the businessman got drunk and repeatedly punched the saleswoman on her ear and face when she foiled his attempt to rape her at his home at International City on August 20.

Due to the brutal beating, the Kyrgyz woman’s eye turned blue and became swollen.

“How did you manage to prevent him from removing your jeans after he beat and punched you and yet not feel scared?” presiding judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi asked the saleswoman.

“I know kickboxing since my schooldays and I have a lot of self-confidence… he didn’t scare me. I defended myself. When I foiled his attempt to remove my jeans and rape me, he got angry and punched me on my left ear and in my face. I lost two teeth and my eye became swollen,” the woman said.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the saleswoman cried and pointed out that she has been suffering from constant pain in her ear and head and asked the court to demand T.M. pay for her medication.

Testifying that T.M. punched her three to four times, the saleswoman claimed that since she was beaten, she cannot hear properly and still suffers from swelling in her eye.

Her lawyer Saeed Mosabah Al Nasiri, of Excel Advocates and Legal Consultants, contended: “My client is taking civil action against the defendant and is seeking Dh21,000 in temporary compensation. We ask the court to have her examined by Dubai Police’s forensic examiners to decide whether she sustained any permanent disability.”

The woman testified before the court that the incident happened shortly after the defendant took permission to join her and her friends at a disco.

“He sat with us and we consumed liquor. Then he offered to take us to his residence to continue partying… and we did. My countrywoman got drunk and her boyfriend took her down to his car. I stayed in T.M.’s flat searching for my mobile phone. When I refused his invite to sleep over, he suddenly pushed me down on a sofa. He punched my left ear, then pounded me with continuous blows to my eyes. I fought him and prevented him from removing my jeans,” the Kyrgyz woman told the court.

Presiding judge Al Mahdi adjourned the case until May 22 to hear prosecution witnesses and get a medical report from Rashid Hospital concerning the woman’s injuries.

Prosecution records said a Dubai police team escorted the woman to Al Rashidiya police station where she lodged a police complaint against T.M.

Prosecutors charged the defendant with getting drunk, resisting arrest and offending a high-ranking police officer, who was checking the woman’s injury.