Woman ‘raped by man she met in a Dubai nightclub’

The 34-year-old Indian victim told Dubai Criminal Court she met the Kuwaiti defendant, 39, at a club last year and chatted for a while.

DUBAI // A Kuwaiti tourist raped an Indian businesswoman he met in a nightclub after she offered to help him with investments, a court has heard.

The woman, 34, told Dubai Criminal Court she met the defendant, 39, at a club last year and chatted for a while.

“He asked about my nationality and I told him Indian but carrying a US passport,” she said. “Then he told me he wanted to invest in the US. I offered to help, but then we were interrupted and didn’t exchange numbers.”

A few days later, on November 11, they met at another club in a hotel in Jumeirah.

“When the club was to close, he asked to resume our discussion. I agreed so we sat for a while in the lobby then went to his suite in the same hotel where a friend of his joined us but sat in the other room.”

She told the court that when she wanted to leave, he assaulted her and tried to pull her by the leg into the bedroom.

“His friend tried to stop him and told him to let me go, but he wouldn’t listen and he pushed him out of the room and locked the door,” the woman said.

When she tried to call police he snatched her phone from her hand and beat her before stripping her naked and raping her, she said.

“When he was done, there was a knock on the door. It was room service, so I ran out the door and called police then waited for them at the lobby.”

The defendant told police the woman offered to have sex with him in return for Dh2,500, but when they were done she increased the amount to Dh7,000.

The hotel’s security cameras showed the defendant and the woman holding hands and walking into his suite at 3.51am. It later showed her walking out of the room.

In court, the defendant denied a rape charge. The next hearing has been scheduled for February 7.