DUBAI // A 30-year-old Pakistani gardener waited until his Emirati employer was out before raping her Bangladeshi maid, a court heard on Sunday.
Prosecutors say on January 31 he covered the mouth of the 30-year-old maid to stop her from screaming before raping her.
The woman told prosecutors the man was at the house at 4pm on the day of the incident and told her he was leaving after he completed his work.
However, she said he hid inside her bedroom and attacked her when she walked in.
“He hugged me and placed his hand on my mouth to stop me from screaming,” she said. “He then threw me on the bed and took off his clothes and had his way with me.”
However, the employer, a 31-year-old Emirati housewife, told prosecutors the maid told her three different stories about how she was raped by the gardener.
“At 7pm, I came back to my house and saw the maid behaving normally, then she burst into tears and told me she was raped by the gardener,” the housewife said.
“The maid told me several stories of how the rape happened: in one story, the maid said she was attacked in her bedroom; in another story she claimed the gardener came inside from the kitchen door and dragged her to her bedroom before raping her.”
The Emirati police officer who apprehended the gardener said the man denied the rape, saying he did not touch the maid.
“The gardener said the maid came up with the rape story because she wanted to leave her employer’s house,” said the 36-year-old officer.
A police report revealed the maid had had sexual intercourse but it did not determine if it was rape or consensual, though the gardener’s DNA was found on the maid’s trousers.
At Dubai Criminal Court, the gardener denied the rape and said they had consensual sex.
The next hearing is on June 16.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
