Dubai expat 'gang-raped when drunk' court hears

Drunk British executive was kidnapped as she left a nightclub and gang-raped by three men, hears court.

DUBAI // A drunk expatriate executive was kidnapped after visiting a Dubai nightclub and gang-raped by three men, a court heard today.
Prosecutors said the Briton, CA, a 28-year-old manager, had been drinking alcohol at the Rock Bottom Cafe in Regent Palace Hotel, Bur Dubai, on July 6.
The woman told prosecutors she consumed three glasses of wine and became "extremely drunk" and unaware of what was happening around her. She left the hotel and hailed a cab to return to her home in Arabian Ranches.
She was picked up by a Pakistani driver, 37, who noticed she was "totally drunk" when she got into the vehicle and fell asleep on the back seat.
He said the woman woke up after a short while and asked him to take her to Jumeirah Beach Residence instead. When they arrived she asked him to stop at an ATM so she could withdraw money.
She got out of the car and stood in front of the machine, but returned without any money and then tried to sit in the driver's seat. "I took out the car's key," said the driver.
A red Hyundai then pulled over and three Iranian men approached the driver, telling him they knew the woman. They then took her to their car and paid the taxi fare.
Prosecutors said the men took her to an apartment in Naif where the three of them took turns raping her.
The woman testified that she made repeated attempts to escape, but one of the men kept dragging her back. "He told me: 'You can't run away'," said the woman.
"I noticed one of them filming me and I begged them to let me go but they ignored my pleas and laughed at me, speaking to each other with broken English," she added.
When the men finished attacking her, she was left alone and returned home. The next day she reported the attack to her flatmate EM, a 26-year-old from France.
The flatmate told her not to shower so that the evidence would be preserved, then both headed to Rashidiyah Police Station to report the attack. A blood test on the woman taken at 5pm [the day after the attack] by police did not show any traces of alcohol or other poisonous substances.
Two of the men were arrested, while one remains at large.
At the Criminal Court YJ and AK, both 20-year-olds from Iran, denied a rape charge. Their defence lawyer claimed the woman fabricated the story. "She watches a lot of action movies," said the lawyer.
The case was adjourned to December 12.
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