Dubai: A college student has denied branding the genitals and killing the man who she claimed raped her.
Two of her classmates, accused of helping the defendant, also face charges of having brutally assaulted and beaten the alleged rapist, S.B., to death.
The 20-year-old Nigerian college girl, L.O., pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday.
Her accomplices 21-year-old K.T. and 23-year-old A.S., also Nigerians, pleaded not guilty before Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout.
The two male students have additionally been charged with consuming liquor.
According to court records, the incident occurred after the three suspects, the victim and some other friends finished partying at a pub inside the Burj Khalifa. Later, they left for a friend's flat.
During interrogation, L.O. claimed that she woke up to find a naked S.B. raping her. She stated that he had taken advantage of her inebriated state.
Premeditated attack
"I was outraged and asked K.T. and A.S. to beat S.B. for what he had done to me. We were at A.S.' flat. When S.B. confessed that he had raped me… we jointly beat him.
I slapped him, but I didn't use any tool to assault him. K.T. and A.S. beat him with their hands and a belt," L.O. claimed.
However, according to the chargesheet, the assault was pre-meditated since the suspects had a knife and belts in their possession.
It alleges that instead of reporting the rape to the police, the suspects brutally beat S.B. until he collapsed. Then, they ripped off his clothes and L.O. burnt his genitals with a hot knife, the chargesheet further claims.
A forensic doctor with the Dubai Police told prosecutors that the victim, S.B., had succumbed to internal bleeding in his skull. The victim sustained severe injuries after he hit his head on the floor where he had fallen after being brutally assaulted, the doctor said.
An Emirati police lieutenant testified that S.B.'s body was recovered from a flat in Tecom. Primary interrogations led to the arrest of the three defendants.
Incident not reported
The lieutenant said K.T. and A.S. admitted assaulting S.B. According to the duo, he ran around the apartment to avoid being assaulted. Not taking S.B.'s injuries too seriously, the suspects did not report the incident to the authorities.
Chief Prosecutor Khalid Al Zarouni asked the court to award the toughest punishment — 10 years' imprisonment — to the defendants.
The court will hear the forensic doctor when it reconvenes on February 7.
