Dubai: A prisoner has been accused of raping his cellmate after mixing coffee with drugs and making him fall asleep.

The 29-year-old Yemeni prisoner, S.A., who is serving a jail term for a rape conviction from September 2011.

Prosecutors charged S.A. with spiking 29-year-old Iranian, M.S.’s coffee with a drug which made the latter sleep before he removed his prison dress and had sex with him.

The cellmate claimed that when he finished the Taraweh prayer (special Ramadan prayers) he returned to the cell when the suspect offered him the coffee.

The Iranian claimed that the coffee tasted bitter and he fell asleep shortly after drinking it.

“When I woke up very late the next morning at 11am, I spotted semen on my underwear and severe pain in my rectum,” M.S. claimed during prosecution questioning.

The defendant S.A. entered a not guilty plea when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

He countered the Iranian’s allegations and strongly refuted the charges by denying that he had sex with M.S.

Chief Prosecutor Khalid Al Zarouni has asked for the death punishment against the defendant.

“After Taraweh prayer at 10pm I went back to my cell. I used to stay awake until the Fajr prayer. Once I asked him why the coffee tasted bitter, S.A. claimed that he used a new kind of coffee. I felt sleepy and asked him to wake me up at 2am to read Quran. Later I felt that someone was sleeping behind me and trying to remove my clothes. I opened my eyes and spotted the defendant seated behind me… I felt very weak and almost drugged when I asked him to return to his bed. I slept again and didn’t know what happened later. When I woke up the next morning, I felt pain in my backside and spotted semen on my clothes,” S.A. claimed to prosecutors.

An Emirati police lieutenant testified: “When I questioned the suspect, he confessed that he had consensual sex with M.S. several times… S.A. alleged also that he gave M.S. his mental illness medication and that he didn’t drug him. He denied having sex with the Iranian against his will.”

Meanwhile prosecution records said the defendant denied having any form of sexual intercourse with M.S.

The court reconvenes on January 21 to hear prosecution witnesses.