Man acquitted of kidnap and rape charges

His accuser, A S, a 25-year-old from India, was acquitted by the court of having consensual sex with the Emirati defendant.

DUBAI// A man accused of kidnapping a woman, driving her out to the desert and raping her was cleared of all charges by the criminal court on Sunday.

His accuser, A S, a 25-year-old from India, had been charged with having consensual sex with the Emirati defendant, S L, 36, but also was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The court heard that the couple met outside an embassy last June while he was dressed in police uniform, although it was not confirmed if he worked for the police.

She asked him for directions to the US Embassy and they exchanged phone numbers.

“He called and asked to meet me but I refused,” said the woman, adding that she eventually relented to his demands.

On their first date, they just drove around in his car for two hours.

A few days later she met him again and they went for dinner and to the cinema.

“When the movie finished at nearly midnight, I asked him to drive me home but he said he was tired and needed to rest for an hour or so in his nearby home,” said A S.

While at his residence, she admitted they kissed.

“But we didn’t have sex as I told him I was a virgin,” said the woman.

She recalled that he promised to drive her home, but stopped at a petrol station on the way.

“Afterwards he headed to a remote area and demanded that I take off all my clothes,” said the woman, adding that when she tried to get out of the car the doors were locked.

“He said to me: ‘let me have sex with you or I will kill you,’” she said.

She claimed he then repeatedly raped her in the car.

“I scratched his face and hands and begged that he didn’t rape me but he didn’t listen. When he drove me home, he apologised for what he had done,” she said.

Afterwards, she told her sister who lives in the US, who advised that she inform the police.