DUBAI // A man who raped a woman at knife-point has been sentenced to a year in jail.
The 24-year-old Emirati, together with a 19-year-old friend, dragged their victim into a car as she waited for a taxi outside a hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road. They drove her to an area of desert off the Dubai-Al Ain Road where they sexually assaulted her in the attack in August 2014. One of the men tried to force her to drink alcohol before taking her mobile phone and stripping her naked at knife-point. She was told that if she did not do as they wanted they would cut her throat and bury her in the desert. They then took turns raping her.
“When one of them was trying to start the car I took the knife and ran,” said the victim. She stabbed one of the men in the hand when he tried to chase her and then hid among some trees.
After the men had driven off, she flagged down a truck driven by two Asian men. They gave her clothes to wear and drove to her home in Al Nahda.
She contacted police the following day.
A 30-year-old Bangladeshi said the woman stopped him and his friend as they were driving to Ajman at 4.30am.
“She was crying and looked scared and nervous. We tried to stop any of the passing cars passing hoping one would take her home but when no one stopped after seeing her naked, we accepted to drive her home,” said the witness.
Both Emiratis admitted to rape when they appeared in Dubai Criminal Court in October 2015. The court was told the younger defendant had died before a verdict could be handed down.
The cause for the delay in sentence has not been revealed.
salamir@thenational.ae