Prison handcuffs
Picture used only for illustrative purposes Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: A man went on trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance after he was accused of using a dating application to lure a woman into his apartment and raping her five times.

The 32-year-old Nigerian defendant who was last May sentenced to a year in prison to be followed by deportation for raping a 53-year-old Serbian woman 20 times and physically assaulting her, was in court on Tuesday, where he was then charged with raping a 33-year-old Ukrainian woman five times.

According to official records, the defendant used the same dating application and style to lure both women into his apartment within one week in January 2019.

The Ukrainian victim testified that the defendant wanted to meet her in a café in Dubai Marina before convincing her to go to his apartment.

Lured on social media 

“I saw him on a social media platform and he asked to meet me. He arrived in a taxi and then took me to his building in Al Barsha. He threatened me with a syringe,” the victim said in records.

She claimed that no one was around them when she yelled for help and went with him to the flat where he threatened her with a knife.

“He ensured the music was loud so no one could hear me screaming and then he raped me inside the bedroom,” she added.

The defendant didn’t allow her to leave and raped her four more times.

He then asked her to leave the flat, following which she reported the incident to Al Barsha police station.

Kidnapping, rape

In court, the defendant was charged with kidnapping the victim and then raping her.

A DNA test corroborated the victim’s claim, the court was told.

“We believe the defendant committed both rapes. The details and circumstances of the two crimes are very similar and the women do not have any relation nor are they acquainted,” a prosecutor told the court.

The man denied the charges. He claimed that he was an addict and recovered but he did not have his treatment pills.

“I did not rape any one, what syringe are they talking about?” the defendant asked in courtroom.

The next hearing is set on November 3.