Dubai: Two students tried to rape a man at knifepoint but the latter escaped by jumping out of a first-floor window, a court heard on Tuesday.

A 40-year-old Filipino clerk was at one of Dubai Metro stations in May when a 19-year-old Yemeni student talked to him and convinced him that he could help him find a job.

The student talked the Filipino into going the former’s residence so that he could change his sports outfit and then help the clerk find a job. Once they entered the student’s residence in Al Ghusais, the student reportedly asked the clerk to allow him to have sex with him but the latter refused. Having waited in the hall for a few minutes, the Filipino was shocked when the student came out of another room wearing only his underwear and tried to undress him.

As the Filipino was trying to dodge the Yemeni, a 19-year-old Sudanese student came in and joined his flatmate in attempting to remove his clothes.

Records said when the two students threatened the Filipino with a knife, the latter slipped away and jumped from a window, landed on the ground and fractured his arms, legs and back.

The building’s Indian watchman instantly called for an ambulance and reported the matter to the police.

The Yemeni and Sudanese students were taken into custody.

Prosecutors charged the two suspects with a bid to rape the clerk at knifepoint.

The suspects pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.

The Yemeni suspect’s lawyer, Yousuf Al Beloushi, asked presiding judge Mohammad Jamal to adjourn the case until he prepares his defence arguments when the court reconvenes on September 23.

The Filipino testified to prosecutors that he first met the Yemeni suspect at a metro station when he offered to help him find a job. “I agreed to go with him to his residence because he wanted to change his clothes. While I was waiting in the hall, he came out after sometime and he was only wearing his boxers. He asked to have sex with me but I refused. Then the other suspect came out from another room … I refused to have sex. I felt scared when they threatened me with a knife … I removed part of my clothes. The Sudanese did not ask me to allow him to have sex with me but he demanded me to get undressed. I took them by surprise and jumped out of the window without looking at the landing spot. After I landed on the street, I did not ask pedestrians for assistance … I couldn’t call the police,” he claimed to prosecutors.

The watchman testified to prosecutors that the Filipino asked him to call a taxi while the suspects asked him not to call the police after they came down.

The trial continues.