Man sentenced to 15 years for raping tourist in Dubai

The Moroccan citizen claimed to be a hair stylist and offered the woman treatment products to lure her back to his apartment

A man was jailed for 15 years for rape at Dubai Criminal Court.

A man who raped a female tourist at his home in Dubai has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The Moroccan citizen met the woman at a hotel restaurant in Jumeirah Lakes Towers on December 4 last year.

He claimed to be a hair stylist, and invited her back to his apartment nearby on the pretext of selling her discount hair treatment products, Dubai Criminal Court heard.

“He introduced himself as a hairstylist and handed me his card and that of the salon he claimed he was working for,” said the woman, whose age and nationality were not disclosed.

“He offered me hair treatments he said he sells from his apartment at reduced prices.”

The woman agreed to join him at his shared apartment to view the salon items.

But the man, whose age was also not stated in court records, locked the door of his room and pushed her on to his bed.

“I screamed and he said he would kill me if I didn’t shut up,” she said.

She tried to fight him off but was overpowered by her attacker, who covered her mouth to stifle her screams.

She managed to flee the apartment and called police from the reception area of the residential building.

It was not made clear in evidence how she made her escape from the room.

“She was shaking in fear as she called police,” said the building’s security guard.

Police arrived and arrested the man.

“He admitted the rape right there and then but when at the police station, he changed his story and said it was consensual in return for Dh500,” said a police officer.

The man’s flatmate testified that he was woken by a woman’s screams.

“I heard loud sobbing and a woman screaming 'leave me, leave me' then heard the door slamming,” the flatmate told the court.

Medical reports said scratches on the defendant’s body were consistent with the woman’s account of her struggle to stop the attack.

The man was found guilty and will be deported after serving his jail term.