DUBAI // Two men who were sentenced to life in jail for kidnapping, raping and assaulting a woman won a reduced sentence on Wednesday.
The jobless Pakistanis, aged 36 and 28, pretended to be police officers before they kidnapped and assaulted a maid and her friend, then raped the maid.
They stopped their Filipina victim, 29, and her Indian friend as they walked out of Al Safa Park in November 2013, then forced them into in a small van.
“When we left about 5.30pm, we were stopped by the defendants who said they were CID officers,” said the victim.
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Today in court:
■ Man who tried to strangle relative at Dubai Mall has jail term reduced
■ Dubai policewoman who stole cash from wallet has prison term suspended
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She said the kidnappers asked why they had been in the park and ordered them to go with them to a police station.
“We begged them not to take us to a police station as they forced us into a white van,” she said. The men took the maid’s phone, Dh300 from her purse and her friend’s wallet.
The women pleaded to be let go but she and her friend were assaulted, after which the van was stopped and her friend was thrown out and ordered not to contact the maid again.
The maid again begged the men to release her, at which point one of them told her that he would if she had sex with him.
The two then took turns raping her in the back seat of the van before giving back her purse and mobile and dropping her off near her home.
At Dubai Criminal Court in June 2015 both attackers denied charges of kidnapping, impersonating police officers, theft, rape and physical assault but both were sentenced to life in jail to be followed by deportation.
But in the Dubai Court of Appeal on Wednesday, their sentences were reduced to five years in jail each, followed by deportation. No reason was given.
salamir@thenational.ae
