DUBAI // Two men charged with raping a woman they met on social media have been sentenced to a year in jail after it was ruled that the sex had been consensual, but outside of wedlock.
The Pakistani defendants, aged 23 and 26, were charged at Dubai Criminal Court with rape and theft, both of which they denied in May, arguing that the Filipina had given her consent.
The woman said she met the younger man through an application called Links on March 9.
“On March 11, he asked to meet me so I told him where I was and he came around 5pm,” said the woman.
She got in the car and asked him to drive her to her home in Sharjah. He agreed but told her he had to pick up his uncle first.
She said that on the way the man asked to have sex with her but she refused.
The woman said they picked up the other man, who took the wheel, and then she claimed the younger man pulled down her trousers by force and raped her. She said the other man then raped her before the younger man did it again.
The men were also accused of stealing Dh3,000 in cash and two mobiles phones from her before kicking her out of the car.
A medical report found no evidence to back up her rape claim but a preliminary test revealed that the woman is pregnant. A blood test is needed to confirm the pregnancy.
The men were sentenced to a year in jail followed by deportation for having consensual sex out of wedlock. The court also ordered their referral to the Court of Misdemeanours on the theft charge.
salamir@thenational.ae
