Dubai: A businessman has been jailed for five years after a court convicted him of raping and tricking a saleswoman he lured to the desert to watch a remote-controlled airplane game.
The Dubai Court of First Instance Sunday found the 27-year-old Emirati businessman guilty of raping the Syrian woman twice on Dubai's outskirts.
The victim told prosecutors Y.M., tricked her into going with him to watch the game being operated and, when they finished, he raped her.
Pronouncing Sunday's verdict, Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir acquitted Y.M.'s 25-year-old compatriot friend of aiding and abetting him, due to insufficient evidence. Y.M. pleaded not guilty, saying: "No, it's untrue. That's not what happened."
An Emirati witness claimed in court earlier that the saleswoman, R.M., requested Dh500,000 to waive her rape complaint against Y.M. [his friend], shortly after having demanded $15,000 (about Dh55,500) not to report the offence to the police.
"Three days later she phoned me and claimed that Y.M. raped her and she demanded $15,000 not to report to the police… she said she will report the police within one week, although I advised her to report to the police immediately. Later she requested Dh500,000 to drop the case… I am sure they had consensual sex," testified the witness, A.Z.
The judgment is subject to appeal within 15 days.
