Dubai: A manager has claimed that a businesswoman, who has accused him of rape, was nude when she chased him down a corridor and pulled him out of an elevator.
The 28-year-old Egyptian manager, A.A., denied assaulting the 28-year-old Belarusian woman and raping her at her flat while they were discussing business.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.
“The woman’s claims are complete nonsense... Why would my client [who is accused of rape] dial 999 and tell Dubai Police Operations Room that the Belarusian complainant locked him up inside her flat and prevented him from leaving? He had to break his way out and run away from her. The surveillance camera footage clearly showed her chasing my client while she was undressed… she assaulted him and pulled him out of the elevator when he tried to leave,” A.A.’s advocate Saeed Al Gailani said before presiding judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi.
Prosecutors said the Egyptian raped the woman when he went to discuss business with her.
Prosecutors said the suspect took advantage of being alone with the woman before groping her and raping her.
“I did not do so. I was present at her flat to discuss business,” said A.A.
“How could this be categorised as a rape case? My client took the initiative and complained that she locked him up… he had to break the locks and run away from her. Later she called the police and falsely claimed that she had been raped,” Al Gailani argued.
The woman told prosecutors she became acquainted with suspect over the internet.
“We exchanged numbers and he visited my flat to discuss some commercial transactions. We chatted for a while and then he moved beside me. He started touching me and tried to put his hand under my shirt… I pushed him away. When I rejected him, he got angry. He insisted on touching me… I moved away and headed to my bedroom to call the police. He chased me inside and forced himself on me. He used physical violence… I was scared. He went to the washroom when he finished and I escaped from the flat naked,” she said. Meanwhile the suspect contradicted her statement and told prosecutors that she seduced him and begged him to have sex with her after she removed her clothes.
Prosecution records said the defendant phoned the police a second time and informed them that he had managed to leave the flat.
A policeman asked the Egyptian to return to the building at Jumeirah Lakes Towers before he was arrested after the woman lodged a rape complaint against him.
The trial continues.