Legal consultant jailed for rape at knifepoint

Dubai: A legal consultant has been jailed for life for raping a hairdresser at knifepoint.

The Egyptian legal consultant, A.M., parked his motorbike upon spotting the 23-year-old Moroccan hairdresser walking into a building in Al Nahda. He entered the elevator after her and pressed the button for the parking level in March.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted A.M. on Tuesday of raping the woman at knifepoint in the building’s stairway.

Court records said the accused forced the Moroccan to have sex with him and impersonated a police officer.

“The knife will be confiscated and the accused will be deported following the completion of his punishment,” said presiding judge Mohammad Jamal.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. “I did not rape her. I did not claim to be a policeman,” said A.M.

Records said A.M had abused the fact that he was alone with the woman in the lift when he ordered her to accompany him to the stairway. He posed as a policeman when he showed her a walkie-talkie that reportedly had a Dubai Police badge on it.

According to Tuesday’s verdict, the walkie-talkie will also be confiscated.

The woman testified in court that she had just left a coffee shop and was going home when the defendant attacked her at 4.30am.

“Once I entered the building, I saw the suspect had parked his motorbike in front of the building. I called the lift and once it reached the ground floor, we entered the lift together. I was going to the fifth floor while he pressed the button for the parking floor. I told him that I was from Morocco once he asked where I come from … suddenly, he pointed a knife at my neck. Thinking he was a thief, I immediately handed him my wallet and mobile. He didn’t take them and asked me to follow him out. He forced me to the stairway room … he molested me and then forced me to perform an indecent act before he had forced sex with me. While he was dressing up, a walkie-talkie fell out from his pocket and then he showed me an ID and claimed to be a policeman. He left. My friend advised me to report [the incident] to the police immediately,” she said.

Records showed the woman identified the defendant in the police line-up once she was summoned to the police station.

A police corporal claimed that the suspect was identified by his motorbike and arrested four days after the incident.

“During questioning, A.M. claimed he was present in the lift when he took out a medal from his pocket that made the woman scared. Then he alleged that she agreed to have sex with him once he asked her to do so,” he said.

The primary verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.