Singer’s lawyer claims his client was blackmailed
Lawyer has accused an alleged rape victim of blackmailing his client, demanding money to drop her rape complaint
Dubai: A lawyer has said that an alleged rape victim had attempted to extort Dh1 million from his client, a famous singer, arguing that the latter had consensual sex with the woman.
“The French claimant willingly went to the villa where the incident happened. Once she knew that my client is a famous singer, she decided to blackmail him, demanding Dh1 million to drop her unfounded rape complaint,” the Emirati singer’s lawyer, Ali Mussabeh Dahi, defended before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.
Dahi also defended that the medical examination and forensic report confirmed there was no act of violence during the incident.
“A forensic doctor has confirmed that there were no signs of violence on the girl’s body. She was not raped as she claimed and this is consensual sex and not a rape incident,” he said.
The Dubai Public Prosecution had charged the Emirati singer with raping a woman in his villa while she was drunk, and his friend has been charged with sexually molesting the victim.
The case dates back to July 2013 when the Emirati singer’s friend, also an Emirati, met the 19-year-old French woman at the open beach in Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) at around 4pm. In her statement, the victim claimed that a Syrian man was also present. They invited her to a party at the singer’s villa where they consumed alcohol.
“I blacked out and woke up in hospital where I realised that I had been raped. I had bruises on my neck and right arm... the doctor who examined me told me that I had lost my virginity,” the victim claimed.
The suspects allegedly left the woman unconscious on a pavement in Al Barsha where a police sergeant found her.
Dahi argued that the girl was not left unconscious and was aware of everything when she was asked to be dropped off. He also said that to avoid being charged with consuming alcohol when they found her, she pretended that she had been raped.
“She found her way out of the problem. If she had wanted to report a rape incident, why didn’t she call the police immediately? Only when she knew she was about to get in trouble for getting drunk did she claim that she was in a party and was raped,” said Dahi.
Presiding Judge Fahd Rashid Butti Al Shamsi will hand out a judgement on September 24.
