Dubai: A lawyer has claimed that his client had consensual sex with a woman, who accused the suspect of abusing their relationship and raping her at what he promised to be their marriage house.

Prosecutors charged the 24-year-old Emirati suspect, F.Q., of kidnapping and raping his 28-year-old countrywoman and are seeking a capital punishment against him.

“My client did not kidnap or rape the woman, whom I refuse to describe as a victim, but I will refer to her as a claimant. She willingly came to my client’s house. The claimant agreed to go up to his room and stayed there from 8:30am until 4pm. She was not pushed or forced to go up to the room,” contended lawyer Yousuf Hammad when he defended F.Q. before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

According to the accusation sheet, the defendant cheated the woman and claimed that he wanted to show her their future house. He was said to have talked her into coming to the residence in Al Mezher. Then he dragged her out of her car, pushed her up to the bedroom and used physical violence when he raped her. He was accused of kidnap, sexual molestation and rape.

Lawyer Al Hammad defended: “F.Q.’s mother and brother testified before the court that they saw the claimant going up to the bedroom willingly and without being forced, as she alleged in her statement. Your honour, this is a very clear case of consensual sex. There was no rape. The claimant also repeatedly phoned my client following the incident… he did not answer her calls because he was asleep.”

The defendant, who remains in custody, pleaded not guilty and alleged that he had consensual sex with the woman when he defended himself.

Prosecution records said the woman agreed to go and see the house without being aware of the suspect’s intentions.

In her statement, she claimed that she was not planning to go inside and told prosecutors that she kept her car engine switched on as she did not plan to stay long.

Prosecutors accused the student of dragging by force the woman to the first floor and compelling her to undress before he raped her. He beat her and threatened to tear off her abaya and send her back home where her parents would ask her what happened.

The lawyer defended before Presiding Judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi: “I ask the court to acquit my client of kidnap and rape for lack of corroborated evidence. Otherwise, I ask the court to replace the aforementioned charges by consensual sex.”