Man who raped British teacher in her Dubai flat to spend 10 years in jail

DUBAI // A man who raped a 32-year-old British teacher in her flat in the early hours of New Year’s Day will spend the next 10 years in jail.

The woman was returning home at 3am when she met the Nigerian salesman, 30, near the lift of the building.

“At first I thought he was a tenant,” said the woman, who added that he asked which floor she lived on and followed her when she got out of the lift.

“I was surprised and questioned his reasons. He said he followed me to make sure I was fine, I told him to stop and leave,” she said.

When she opened the door to her flat, the defendant pushed her inside. He then stripped her, dragged her to a bed and raped her.

“I resisted him hard but failed to stop him,” said the teacher, who ran to the toilet to hide.

“He and I were pulling the bathroom door but then he stopped and when I checked, I found that he was gone,” she said.

The woman dressed and went to a friend’s flat, where she called police.

“We received the report at 7am from Silicon Oasis,” said a 39-year-old Emirati policeman who told the court that the defendant was identified and arrested a few hours later.

“He told us that he was visiting one of his friends in the same building but didn’t find him and that as he was leaving the building, he met the woman near the lift and she was drunk,” said the officer.

“He confessed to us that he had sex with her but said she asked him and she got undressed on her own.”

Medical reports confirmed sexual activity but not the rape.

Dubai Criminal Court found him guilty. He will be deported after serving his prison term.