Prosecutors fail to secure heavier sentence for rapists

DUBAI // Prosecutors failed to secure a heavier sentence for two men who were sentenced to a year in jail each for raping a Filipina they met on social media.

Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the one-year jail term against the Pakistani defendants 23, 26 and turned down the appeal submitted by Dubai prosecutors seeking an increased jail term.

The duo were initially charged with rape and theft which they denied in both courts, criminal and appeal which later became convinced through available evidence that the sex had been consensual.

Last May, the pair told judges of the lower court that the sex was with the woman’s consent and approval.

The woman, whose age was not given, told prosecutors she met the 23-year-old accused through an application called Links on March 9, last year.

“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 needed to pick up his uncle first.

On the way, the man asked to have sex with her but she refused, after which she started screaming.

“He stopped the car and picked up the other man, who took the driver’s seat, while he moved to the back seat next to me,” said the woman.

The 23-year-old lowered her trousers by force and allegedly raped her as she resisted, then took the driver’s seat again as his co-accused, aged 26, raped her.

“After the second man was done, the other returned to the back seat and raped me for a second time,” the woman claims.

She said she resisted and screamed but neither of the men cared. After the pair were done, they stole Dh3,000 in cash from her as well as two mobiles phones before they kicked her out of the car.

A medical report found no evidence to back the rape claim, however, a primary test revealed that the woman is pregnant, and a blood test was needed to confirm the pregnancy.

The men were given a year in jail to be followed by deportation for having consensual sex out of wedlock with the Flilipina and the court ordered their referral to the Court of Misdemeanors on the charge of theft.

The court of appeal upheld the sentence.