Woman fought back despite attackers pointing knife at her, Dubai court hears

The victim was waiting for a bus to take her to work at 5.45am on October 30 last year when she was attacked, according to court records.

DUBAI // Two men have denied grabbing a woman by the hair, gagging her and threatening her with a knife.

Dubai Criminal Court heard on Thursday that the two Bangladeshi accused, DD, 26, and 40-year-old SM, failed in the alleged kidnap attempt after their victim fought bravely, despite having a knife pointed at her stomach.

Records state that the victim, Bangladeshi domestic helper RM, was waiting for a bus to take her to work at 5.45am on October 30 last year.

One of the men gagged her and restrained her while the other ordered her to keep silent while pointing the knife.

The two tried to drag her to a nearby car and push her inside but the woman fought back and threw herself to the ground, breaking free and then screaming for help.

She said that, as she screamed, one of the men slipped his hand into her pocket and stole a Dh100 note before they both sped off in the car with a third man driving.

Minutes after her attackers fled, the woman’s bus arrived and she took it to work where she told her manager of the incident. She was directed to the police station to file a report.

At 6pm the same day, as she was returning to her residence using the same bus, she said she saw the defendants standing near the bus stop, so she called police and they were arrested.

“They tried to escape but we caught them,” said police officer EA, who added that they confessed to the crime and that one of them had suggested selling the woman for a sum of money.

The two were charged with attempted kidnap and with armed robbery, which they denied in court.

The next hearing will be on February 20.