Man leapt from balcony to escape rape attempt, court hears

Two students jailed for attempted rape in Dubai

A man broke his back, arms and legs after leaping from a balcony to escape two students who attempted to rape him, a court was told.

The 41-year-old Filipino was lured to the home one of the attackers who had befriended him and said he could help him secure a job.

But as he sat in the living room of the Yemeni defendant he was ambushed by him and a Sudanese man, who tried to sexually assault him while threatening him with a knife.

Dubai Criminal Court heard that the victim jumped off the first floor balcony as his only means of escape.

The attackers, both 19, were each jailed for a year for attempted rape and ordered to pay Dh21,000 in compensation to the victim.

The incident took place on May 14 of this year in Al Qusais, Dubai.

The Filipino man said he had met the Yemeni student a week earlier at a typing office where he was getting his CV printed.

The defendant befriended him and convinced him that he can help him find a job.

“We exchanged phone numbers after he convinced me he could help find me a job,” said the victim.

He told investigators that on the day of the incident, the Yemeni accused called him and claimed that he had arranged a job interview for him.

“We met in order to go to the job interview but he told me he had to go home and change his clothes first because he was wearing shorts and asked me to go with him,” said the man.

While waiting for him in the living room, the co-accused arrived at the same time as the Yemeni student emerged from the bedroom half-naked.

“He tried to pull my clothes off and asked me to have sex,” said the man.

Both defendants tried to subdue him and rape him.

“I resisted his advances and pushed him away. The Sudanese man rushed inside a room and returned carrying a knife, brandishing it and ordering me to take my clothes off,” he said.

The man jumped from the balcony after managing to free himself from the assailants and finding the door locked.

“I ran and jumped off the balcony. There was no other way to escape.”

He suffered severe injuries in the fall.

Both men denied attempted rape when they appeared at Dubai Criminal Court but were convicted of the charge.

They will be deported once they have served their prison term.