DUBAI // The appeal court overturned the conviction against a man who was sentenced to a year in jail for trying to rape an Italian jobseeker after pretending he wanted to hire her.
In May, Dubai Criminal Court convicted the Indian sales representative, 41, of attempted rape – an offence he denied.
The 29-year-old woman was on a visit visa to Dubai when she started looking for a job and was offered one by the salesman.
The two met at the Marriott hotel on August 2 last year to sign the contract. After getting into his room and signing the papers, the salesman allegedly took his victim by surprise and attacked her before she managed to push him off and ran out of the room.
She reported the incident to the police the next day.
An Emirati officer, 27, checked CCTV footage which showed the two going into the man’s hotel room and in less than an hour the woman was seen running from the room in tears.
The forensics report stated that the woman had suffered minor bruises that could have been a result of the incident.
The sales representative was then sentenced to a year to be followed by deportation but he appealed and his sentence was at Dubai Court of Appeal.
salamir@thenational.ae
