Dubai: Three men will be jailed for seven years each for kidnapping two women tourists from Jumeirah, brutally assaulting them and abusing them sexually in their car.

The trio, two Emiratis and one from Comoros Islands, posed as policemen and assaulted the Iranian women before they coerced them into their car around 3am in February 2014.

They drove across the streets of Dubai for more than four hours during which they brutally assaulted the women, raping one and sexually abusing and attempting to rape the other.

In April, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the Emirati duo, M.R. and R.M., and their accomplice, M.H., to 15 years in jail each.

The Dubai Appeal Court commuted the 15 years’ imprisonment to seven years in jail and rejected prosecutors’ appeal to stiffen the punishment to a life sentence.

Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif also upheld a deportation order against M.H.

M.R. was convicted of raping the 22-year-old victim and attempting to rape her countrywoman.

R.M. was found guilty of trying to rape the 22-year-old woman.

According to the appellate judgement, the three were jointly convicted of kidnapping the women with deception and under coercion and threat. They were also found guilty of beating the victims, threatening to kill them and stealing their purses.

The trio pleaded innocent, contending before the court that they had paid sex with the claimants.

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old woman, who ended up with a fractured nose after her assault, had her civil lawsuit referred to the Dubai Civil Court.

The 22-year-old testified in court that the trio kidnapped her and her countrywoman shortly after they left a five-star hotel in Jumeirah and were walking to the beach at 3am.

“We were walking in a poorly lit street when the defendants stopped their car beside us and asked us for identification. They claimed to be policemen as one of them presented a police ID. When they asked us to ride with them, we refused. Two of them stepped out and beat us, then forced us into the vehicle. The trio seemed to be under the influence of drugs. One of them asked to have sex with my friend, who refused. That person [M.R.] then got angry and assaulted my friend. He failed to rape her because she fought him and wore tight jeans that he could not remove. He turned towards me and threatened to beat me brutally and throw red pepper in my face if I did not allow him to have sex.

“He also threatened to kill me if I resisted or shouted… then he removed my dress and raped me. After he finished, R.M. asked to have sex with me… but I told him I could not because I was in pain and was bleeding from my fractured nose. The assault lasted around four to five hours, during which M.R. handed me a bottle of water and asked to clean up to remove any traces. Around 6am, one of the defendants [R.M.] went to his home. By 8am, they stopped before a bank… my friend and I jumped out of the car and started running in the street to stop drivers and cry for help. When we stopped a taxi, the defendants forced him to leave,” she testified in court.

The two women ran into a bakery shop to hide, according to records, before a bank employee intervened and helped the women. The employee called the police who chased the defendants and arrested them.

Records said the other woman had left the country and did not testify in court.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 27 days.