Emirati officer gets six months for raping Briton

Prosecutors say he assaulted the 20-year-old woman twice in one night after promising to drive her home after a night out with friends.

DUBAI // A military officer was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison for raping a woman twice in the same night.

The victim, a 20-year-old secretary living in the Palm Jumeirah, was raped twice in January 2010 after a night out with friends at Buddha Bar at the Dubai Marina, prosecutors told the Criminal Court of First Instance. They had sought the death penalty for the crime.

S?K, 30, was also accused of illegal consumption of alcohol, for which he was fined Dh1,000.

The woman reported the rape on January 4, 2010, and told officers she had met the officer at Buddha Bar. She said that as she left the club, S?K insisted on driving her home, records stated. She added that she rejected his offer at first, then gave in to his insistence.

Prosecutors said that after she was in the car, S?K headed to a deserted location and beat her head on the window repeatedly. He threatened to kill her, then raped her in the front seat of his car.

He then continued to threaten her, forcing her to tell him where her home was. Prosecutors said he took her inside, locked the door, then raped her again on her bed.

The girl waited for S?K to leave, then called police at about 3am. She said that before he left, he saved his mobile number on her phone and told her to call him.

She was referred to the criminal laboratory, where traces of DNA and a forcible sexual act were found.

Police arrested S?K after contacting him on the phone number he had given the woman. During investigations, he said the act was consensual, and said the woman had seduced him.

S?K initially admitted he drank beer and vodka that night, but when he appeared before the court for the first time on August 24, 2010, he denied all charges.