Dubai: A jobless man has been accused of raping a Frenchwoman in his car after beating and threatening to kill her and leave her body in the desert.
The 25-year-old Emirati man, S.S., was said to have picked up the 22-year-old woman visitor after he promised to show her his farm and later coerced her to have sex with him in August.
Prosecutors are seeking the toughest punishment applicable against S.S.
The suspect entered a not guilty plea when he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
“That did not happen. It is all not true,” argued S.S. when he defended himself before presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi in courtroom seven.
According to the charge sheet, the suspect had forced sex with the French woman, threatened to kill her and assaulted her.
The 22-year-old woman testified to prosecutors that she became acquainted with the suspect in 2013 before she met him again in August 2014.
“We became acquainted in 2013 and I left the UAE. I visited here two times in 2014… my last visit was on August 20. The suspect called me repeatedly while I was here, but I did not answer. The last time he phoned me, I answered him around 7pm and he insisted on seeing me. He picked me up from Nad Al Sheba and took a desert route after he claimed that he wanted to show me beautiful scenes at his farm. Then he stopped in the middle of nowhere and turned towards me. When he tried to kiss me, I rejected him. He got angry and pulled my hair but I resisted him. Then he moved towards me and asked me to undress… I refused.
“I rejected all his sexual advances and begged him to let me go. I jumped to the backseat and tried to open the door and run away but it was locked. He moved to the back and punched me… he assaulted me and tried to rip off my dress. He also grabbed my neck and threatened to kill me if I did not surrender myself… then he took out a pocketknife and pointed it in my face. He threatened to kill me and leave my body in the desert. He raped me at knifepoint. He took my abaya from my bag and threw it in my face and asked me to put it on. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone what happened,” the French claimed to prosecutors.
After the Emirati dropped the Frenchwoman, according to prosecution records, to her car, she drove towards Jumeirah and called the police.
A policeman claimed to prosecutors that the woman was crying and scared when they saw her in her car.
“According to the clinical examination, it could not be specified whether she had consensual sex or was raped,” claimed the doctor.
Meanwhile the suspect was cited admitting that they had consensual sex.
The French woman’s lawyer is seeking Dh20,000 in temporary compensation.
Presiding judge Al Shamsi adjourned the case until S.S.’s lawyer examines the case file on February 8.
