DUBAI // A labourer raped a woman after inviting her to dinner at Al Ghurair centre, then allowed his friend to rape her, a Dubai court was told this morning.
The 25-year-old KS met the 44-year-old Filipina victim in Al Mutatina area, where she lives, in September 2010, she testified.
They exchanged phone numbers and on October 2, two days after she met him, he invited her to dinner and picked her up from her home at 9pm, she said.
He drove towards Sheikh Zayed Road, but said he wanted to pick up something from his workplace before they headed to the restaurant, records show.
The woman told prosecutors that at that point, she felt scared and asked him to drop her off, but he refused. When she tried to get out of the moving vehicle, he stopped and threatened her.
The Pakistani defendant drove to a poorly lighted part of Jebil Ali Industrial Area and took the woman to a small room in a remote warehouse, where he turned on a pornographic DVD. There was a bed nearby, records show.
He allegedly threatened to kill her if she refused to have sex with him, and in fear for her life, she gave in. But his friend, the 22-year-old EK, also Pakistani, was waiting there and she was forced to have sex with him, too.
After the assault, they took the woman home. She called police, but but no DNA evidence was found because the men used contraceptives, records said.
Prosecutors said the men confessed during the investigation, but when they appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance this morning, they both denied the charges.
The next hearing will be on June 9, when a defense lawyer will be appointed.
salamir@thenational.ae
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
