Taxi driver jailed for raping teenager must see out prison term, Dubai court rules

Pakistani AK, 33, was sentenced by the Dubai Criminal Court in January.

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DUBAI // A taxi driver who was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail for raping a mentally impaired 18-year-old in a hotel after she failed to pay the fare, must see out his prison term, the Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday.

Pakistani A K, 33, was sentenced by Dubai Criminal Court in January. The court was told in a previous hearing that the victim, who holds a Comoros Islands passport, had been travelling from her home in Sharjah to the Burj Khalifa on November 7, 2013.

She took a cab for the final leg of the journey. When A K found out she had no money, he took her to a hotel in Naif where he raped her.

“He took me in his taxi and gave me Dh50 then dropped me off somewhere I didn’t know,” the teenager said.

“He told me he will be back but he didn’t come, so I went to the nearest supermarket and called police.”

A medical report confirmed that the victim was not aware of her actions nor responsible for them owing to a mental problem caused by injuries sustained in a traffic incident when she was two years old.

A K denied the charge when questioned by police.

“She got into the car and asked me to take her to a hotel – she didn’t say which hotel – then she told me she wanted me to have sex with her, so I said OK,” he said.

He chose the hotel in Naif because he often took customers there. He will be deported after completing his sentence.

tzriqat@thenational.ae