Woman accused of adultery was 'kidnapped and forced to take drugs'

ABU DHABI // A woman accused of adultery, drinking alcohol and taking drugs says a group of men forced her hand.

FZ claimed she was kidnapped, stripped, drugged and forced to consume alcohol before being dumped outside the Armed Forces headquarters wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

Forensic tests showed she had had sex, but she insisted this was only with her husband. He had remained in Uzbekistan when she left for the UAE on February 4, a month before the alleged kidnap.

"I am married and I don't need to have sex out of wedlock with anyone," she told the Criminal Court of First Instance.

Chief Justice Sayed Abdul Baseer asked her: "So you did not take a shower since then?"

The woman started crying and said she had gone to meet a man who claimed he would help her get a job and a visa. As she waited for him on the street, a car stopped. Someone got out and hit her on the head.

"I woke up to find myself tied up and undressed in the car with a group of men," she said.

She added that they refrained from raping her because she was menstruating but "they beat me up and cut my hair".

The judge asked her about the alcohol. "They poured it into my mouth and on top of me," she said. "I even got injured next to my mouth from the bottle."

"They probably injected you with the Tramadol, too?" the judge asked.

FZ denies adultery, drinking alcohol and taking Tramadol. A verdict is to be issued on June 10.