Man could not have raped woman because she was much bigger, court told

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.