Dubai: A witness claimed in court on Wednesday that a saleswoman demanded Dh500,000 to waive her rape complaint against his Emirati friend, shortly after having demanded $15,000 (Dh55,500) not to report the incident to the police.
Prosecutors had accused the 27-year-old Emirati Y.M., of having sex with the Syrian saleswoman against her will twice in Dubai's outskirts where she claimed he convinced her to escort him to watch how a remote-controlled aircraft game operated.
The unemployed Emirati witness testified before the Dubai Court of First Instance that he introduced his friend, Y.M., to the saleswoman, R.M., over the phone.
"Three days later she phoned me and claimed Y.M. had raped her and demanded $15,000 not to report it to the police… she even told me that she would report it to the police within one week. I don't know why, although I advised her to report to the police immediately if my friend did something wrong. Later she requested Dh500,000 to drop her rape complaint… I am sure that Y.M. did not rape her and that they had consensual sex," testified the prosecution witness, A.Z.
According to records, the claimant alleged Y.M. tricked her into going into the desert where she alleged he raped her twice.
Y.M., a businessman, pleaded not guilty, saying: "No, it's untrue. That's not what happened."
A.Z. further testified before Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir that when he met R.M. in Uptown Mirdif, she offered to have sex with him and asked him for Dh3,000.
"She asked me for money claiming she had a financial problem with her landlord…" added the witness.
One of Y.M.'s lawyers, Nabih Badr, asked the jury to charge the saleswoman with having consensual sex with Y.M. and list her in the case as a suspect.
R.M. claimed to prosecutors: "A.Z. gave him my number. He claimed he wanted to marry a Syrian woman. Then we tried his airplane game in a special area… on our way back, he picked up his friend, I.A., and headed to a desert area and raped me."
Prosecutors charged Y.M. with forcing the Syrian to have sex with him. I.A., the 25-year-old Emirati friend, was charged with aiding and abetting Y.M.
