Dubai: An employee has been jailed for 10 years for raping a woman in his flat after convincing her to visit him to rectify the status of her illegal residency.

The 29-year-old Moroccan woman was clubbing at a pub with her friend when the 23-year-old Emirati employee called her at 4am and asked her to come to his flat at Al Barsha.

The Moroccan left the pub along with her friend and went to the employee’s flat after he had promised to help her amend her residency status because she had been staying illegally in Dubai.

Once she reached the building, the Emirati asked the friend to park his car at a sandy spot, while he took the woman up to the flat without giving its number to the friend.

Once the two entered the flat, the defendant locked the door, took away the woman’s phone, beat her and then forced her into the bedroom where he removed her clothes and raped her.

The Emirati kept the woman locked in the flat until 6pm and when he was driving her in his car to her residence, she opened the door and jumped out.

On Tuesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Emirati of using physical violence and raping the woman.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal sentenced the accused in absentia after he failed to attend his trial.

The woman said she went with her friend to the defendant’s flat at 6am because he had promised to help her in amending her residency status.

“He called me while I was with my friend at the club at 4am. We reached his building at 6am … while my friend went to park the car, the accused took me to the flat. Once he closed the door, he snatched away my phone and switched it off. Then he beat me, pushed me into the bedroom after he had forced me drink a glass of liquor. While he had unprotected sex with me, I cried and begged him to stop but he didn’t. He kept me locked in the flat until 6pm and while taking me home, I jumped out of his car and absconded in a taxi,” she testified.

A police lieutenant said the accused alleged that he had consensual sex with the Moroccan.

“He alleged that he had been having a sexual affair with her for 18 months. The defendant said she used to visit his place where they would have alcohol and then consensual sex. On the day of the incident, according to the suspect’s claims, they had liquor and sex and while driving her to her house, she suddenly jumped out of his vehicle,” he said.

The defendant is entitled to a retrial, as per the Criminal Procedures Law.