Dubai: A driver lost his appeal and will spend 15 years in jail for kidnapping a saleswoman and raping her in a minibus after posing as a policeman.
The Pakistani driver, Z.A., picked up the Ugandan saleswoman up after she had been waiting for a taxi for 20 minutes at 12am and offered her a ride home in August last year. Then he claimed to be a policeman and had forced sex with the 28-year-old woman after he parked in a remote area and locked the doors of the minibus.
In June, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the accused for 15 years followed by deportation.
When he showed up before the Appeal Court, Z.A. rejected the accusations of kidnap and rape contending that he had paid sex with the woman, whom he claimed to be a sex worker.
Presiding judge Eisa Mohammad Al Sharif rejected the defendant’s appeal and upheld his 15-year imprisonment.
“The accused will be deported following the completion of his punishment,” said presiding judge Al Sharif in court.
In his defence argument before the appellate court, Z.A. said all the woman’s claims were lies.
“I did not kidnap her and she willingly rode with me in the minibus and agreed to have paid sex with me. When I refused to pay her extra money, she falsely complained to the police that I raped her,” he contended.
Meanwhile his court-appointed lawyer argued: “She had agreed to have sex with him for money … when they argued over some extra money that she had requested, the woman got angry and complained to the police that the driver had sex with her under duress and after giving her the false impression that he was a policeman.”
The Ugandan woman told the court that she accepted Z.A.’s offer to drive her home after she had waited in vain for a taxi for 20 minutes.
“He took me to Naif. He spoke in Arabic on his phone. Then he pulled over in a dark spot … he asked to see my identification papers. He asked me questions after he showed me what he claimed to be a police card. The defendant snatched my purse and locked it in the dashboard. He touched me inappropriately. I pushed his hand away when he groped me … the door was locked when I tried to open it. Despite having offered him Dh200 to let me go, he forced me to have sex with him,” claimed the saleswoman.
Records said the driver gave his contact numbers to the Ugandan woman and asked her to call him later.
A policeman said the accused was arrested in Naif after his minibus was tracked down.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 28 days.