ABU DHABI // An Emirati could not have tried to rape a Lebanese woman because she was twice his size, a court heard yesterday.
The alleged victim told the Criminal Court she was buying food at a petrol station at about midnight when she saw the Emirati, HK, staring at her. After getting her food, she drove to the car park to eat it, and said the Emirati followed her.
He knocked on her window. When she rolled it down, he grabbed the door handle from the inside and opened the door. She said she scratched and bit him to keep him away, but he started undressing her and threw her on the street and tried to assault her.
A passer-by saw them and the woman started screaming "He raped me, he raped me".
Medical reports found no sign of scratch or bite on the Emirati, nor any evidence of resistance, assault, or rape on the woman.
The accused said the woman asked him to have sex with her, then demanded payment. When he refused she screamed and started tearing up her clothes.
Fayza Moussa, the Emirati's lawyer, said the woman did not look or act like a victim at all. She highlighted their stark difference in size and stature.
His diminutive size, Mrs Moussa said, meant he could neither have reached inside the car window to open the door, nor pulled the woman to the ground.
The lawyer added that the woman seemed too "happy" to be in court.
"She is supposed to be broken from the inside, that someone tried to assault and rape her, not overdressed and smiling," Mrs Moussa said. "I'm an old woman and if I saw HK staring at me and following me I would escape to a crowded place, not to an empty parking at midnight."
A verdict will be announced on December 31.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
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