Karate expert fights off rape attempt in Dubai, court hears

The Georgian victim, who holds a brown belt in karate, fought off the Pakistani taxi driver in his car.

DUBAI // A karate student turned the tables on an rape attempt after throwing sand in her attacker’s eyes, hitting him on the head with her shoe and repeatedly punching him until he ran off.

The Georgian victim, a brown belt in the martial art, was at the Regal Plaza hotel in Al Rafaa on November 21 last year for a friend’s birthday party when she was approached by a 22-year-old Pakistani driver.

“He overheard a conversation between me and my friends about my wish to go to a flower shop and offered to give me a lift. He spoke to me with broken Russian,” said the woman, whose age was not mentioned in court records.

After she failed to find a cab, the driver offered to take her to a flower shop 10 minutes away. However, he instead drove for nearly half an hour to a deserted area in International City where he stopped the car and locked the doors.

He then allegedly pounced on the woman, slapping and punching her in the face and kicking her body.

Prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court the driver tore off the woman’s shirt, breaking her necklace in the process. She fought back by hitting him on the head with her shoe.

The woman continued to struggle as he tried to kiss her and touch her thighs before he eventually stepped out of the car and told her she could leave.

“He opened the door from my side so I could go,” said the woman, adding that as she stepped out of the car he allegedly threw her to the ground and tried to restrain and rape her.

The woman then threw sand in the man’s face, which temporarily blinded him, and started punching him repeatedly. He then let go of her, jumped in his car and drove away.

The victim tried to give chase as her purse containing Dh1,050 in cash, her passport and mobile phone were still inside but could not catch up.

After walking barefoot to the main road, she took a cab to a friend’s flat before heading to a police station and reporting the assault, the court heard.

Three days later, the driver was arrested after police identified him from security camera footage.

“He told me that they agreed to have sex for Dh500 but had a fight about where to do it,” said an Emirati police lieutenant.

Police found the woman’s pendant which fell from her necklace in the defendant’s car.

He denied charges of kidnap, attempted rape, physical assault and theft when he appeared before the criminal court.

“She was drunk and got into my car on her own, then we had a fight because she was drunk, I didn’t try to rape her nor did I rob her. I actually gave her the purse back,” said the defendant.

The next hearing will be on May 19.