DUBAI // A man denied in court today that he sexually assaulted his housemaid and threatened to kill her if she reported the crime.
The Indonesian housemaid NF, 25, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance that HS, 37, an Emirati corporal, sexually assaulted her in August of last year, and continued to do so until the end of last October.
NF recounted how HS surprised her by entering her room one morning and asking her to go out with him, according to prosecutors. When she refused, he punched her face and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said. NF alleged that whenever HS would see her around the house, he would hit her and force her to have intercourse, according to prosecutors.
She also claimed the defendant took advantage of his wife's absence from the home in the morning to rape her, especially when his wife was taking their children to school, according to prosecutors. The victim also alleged that the sexual assault took place at least 14 times, and that she was a virgin before the attack.
She claimed that on October 28 of last year at 5pm, the defendant came to her room and tried to take off her clothes, but she refused, according to prosecutors. He then put his hands around her neck and tried to undress her. She resisted and ran to one of the defendant's children's rooms, and used his daughter's mobile phone to call his wife and the police, prosecutors said.
When HS's wife arrived, NF told her what had happened, but HS denied everything.
The defendant's 31-year-old wife, IN, from Uzbekistan, said in her statement to prosecutors that she received a call from the housekeeper when she was out with the children, saying her husband had sexually assaulted her. When IN confronted her husband, he denied the allegation and yelled at the housekeeper for trying to ruin his relationship with his wife.
His wife claimed that on a previous occasion, she was standing by a window when she saw her husband smack the housekeeper on her bottom, according to prosecutors, but when she asked him about the incident, he laughed it off.
Police officer HD said in his statement that he went to the defendant's home after a problem was reported by a housekeeper against her sponsor. HD went with another officer to the house, but when they arrived, the defendant told them the problem had been resolved.
However, the officers heard someone screaming inside the home, arousing their suspicions, prosecutors said. When they asked the defendant who was screaming, he said his wife was yelling at the children, prosecutors said.
The officers asked to speak to the man's wife, and upon entering the house, HD said the housekeeper came running towards them, crying. She claimed HS hit her, and asked to have sex with her while his wife was away from home, prosecutors said.
balqabbani@thenational.ae
