Four men charged in Filipina attack case

Four men have been arrested for Sunday's stabbing, rape and robbery of four Filipinas in their rented room in a villa, police and consulate sources said.

Police confirmed the men were arrested on Monday, following positive identification from the victims.

They are currently being held on charges of rape, which carries a sentence of at least three years in prison, depending on the severity of the case.

"They have been referred to the public prosecution's office," an official said.

The Philippine Consulate-General said three of the men are UAE nationals while the other is from Oman. All men are in their early twenties.

A senior consulate officer said the suspects had confessed, adding they lived near the victims.

In the area

"They did not live in the neighbourhood but in the area," he said.

M.M., who was raped, told Gulf News she had seen one of her attackers walking around the neighbourhood a few weeks before the incident.

She and three others were attacked in their room in a villa at 12:30am on Sunday, when four men, armed with a knife and metal bars, entered their room through the roof.

E.A., a 47-year-old cleaner from Mindanao in Southern Philippines, was stabbed in her chest and neck when she fought back.

She is receiving treatment at Rashid Hospital, where nurses said she is in a "stable condition".

Another woman, J.A.R., was hit over the head with a metal bar.

The men also took the victims' money, mobiles and other valuables.

J.A.R., who works at a school, said the men looked like they were "high" and on drugs.

"Their eyes were red," J.A.R. said.

Police sources Gulf News spoke to could not confirm the allegation.

Attacked because of racist stereotype

The stereotype that all Filipinas in the UAE are prostitutes led to the attack of four women in their room, said a Filipino overseas workers' advocacy group.

One of the victims, J.A.R., earlier told Gulf News that the men who robbed, stabbed and raped four women after gaining access to their bedroom through the roof, had asked for their qawad (pimp).

Cyrine Pinpin, president of the UAE branch of the Migrante Sectoral Party, said the attack on the three women in their home "confirmed the misconception".

"I can say that it is becoming a general misconception now. I also have so many such experiences and I can say that most Filipina ladies do too," she said in a statement.

She added that the misconception stemmed from the desperation of nationals of the Philippines to find work overseas.

An officer at the Philippine Consulate admitted it was a common misconception, adding it was not restricted to Filipinas in the UAE.

However, he declined to comment on the cause of the stereotype.