Sisters agreed to sex, rape trio tells appeal court

Dubai: Three security guards, each serving a seven-year prison sentence for raping two Japanese sisters, claimed the sisters had agreed to have sex with them after they picked them up from a gas station.

The three men, who did not have identification documents, while defending themselves before the Dubai Court of Appeal, said the sisters - 25-year-old Y.M. and 22-year-old K.M. - had agreed to join them.

The Dubai Court of First Instance had earlier sentenced each of the men to seven years in jail for kidnap and deception.

The three men - 49-year-old A.E., 21-year-old Y.I. and 28-year-old H.A. - pleaded innocent before Presiding Judge Saif Al Nasr and denied the charges of impersonating policemen, kidnapping and deceiving the women and raping them.

Safari trip

The sisters said they went with a group of Emirati men on a safari trip and after they were dropped off on the Dubai-Hatta Road, the three men lured them into their car and raped them in a remote desert area.

The Public Prosecution charged A.E., Y.I. and H.A, with posing as policemen, luring the sisters into their car and speeding off to an uninhabited area. A.E and Y.I. repeatedly raped the elder sister, while H.A. raped the younger one.

The men were additionally charged with stealing $370 (Dh1,361), Dh170 and 400,000 Irani riyals (Dh149.35) in cash from the women.

One of the accused said in court: "I didn't steal the girl's mobile, but I took my phone from her purse."

Y.M. testified: "We took a public bus to Hatta to go sightseeing. The sunlight, colour of the desert and safari cars cruising on the sand dunes fascinated us."

The sisters said some friendly Emirati men dropped them off after the desert safari, before the defendants lured them into their car and raped them.