Dubai: A man charged with raping his former workmate has had the accusation changed to consensual sex, a Dubai Court of First Instance ruled on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Egyptian defendant was charged with raping his 39-year-old Filipina former workmate inside her apartment on December 2018.
According to court records, the woman said both were workmates and friends, but when she left the company last July, the defendant contacted her on Facebook and she invited him over to her apartment in Jebel Ali.
“He came over and we both consumed alcohol,” she said. “When I went to the bathroom he followed me and dragged me into the bedroom. I resisted and start crying but he took off my clothes and raped me,” she added.
The woman went downstairs to report the incident to security guards who informed the police. The defendant was then arrested and confessed to an illegal affair but denied the charge of rape. Judge Habeeb Amer changed the rape charge to that of an illegal affair in Thursday’s hearing.
A verdict will be issued on April 29.
