DUBAI // A man who befriended a woman via WhatsApp and then raped her in the desert was jailed for 10 years on Wednesday morning.
Emirati FM, 29, is awaiting verdicts in four other rape cases but denied the charge in this case at the Dubai Criminal Court last October.
At the time he told the judge: “No, this did not happen, I didn’t do anything to her. I met her once at a public place and she was with her friend.”
Prosecutors said that the 24-year-old Emirati victim said she knew FM through the WhatsApp texting application.
“He told me he texted my number by mistake and then we started texting and the relationship grew into love and later he told me he was divorced and has a child who lives with his family,” she said in police records.
The woman testified that she met her attacker on the day of the incident, February 27 last year, to tell him that a man had asked for her hand in marriage.
“He met with me and my friend at Global Village and then he took me in his car for a short drive,” she said. He took her to a remote area and, when she got scared, she asked him to drive her back.
The defendant did not listen, parked the car in a dark area and then started touching his victim.
“He forced himself upon me and I couldn’t resist him because he was very strong,” she said.
FM raped the woman, who said she suffered bleeding as a result of the attack. “I was shaking and feeling dizzy and I lost track of time,” said the victim.
The defendant drove her back to Global Village, where she met her friend and returned home.
“He called me later that night and promised to marry me. He kept stalling, for about two weeks, claiming that once his financial conditions get better, he will marry me but then I felt he was lying so I reported him to police,” said the woman.
The victim’s friend, LH, 23, testified that after he was reported to police, the defendant called the victim’s mother and told her that the sex was consensual and that her daughter had been in previous sexual relations with other men.
Police officer MA said that when he documented the testimony of the defendant, FM said he had sex three times with the woman with her consent.
A forensics report showed that the woman’s body had no signs of forceful sex.
salamir@thenational.ae
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHigh%20fever%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIntense%20pain%20behind%20your%20eyes%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESevere%20headache%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENausea%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EVomiting%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESwollen%20glands%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ERash%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIf%20symptoms%20occur%2C%20they%20usually%20last%20for%20two-seven%20days%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
