DUBAI // A 21-year-old woman dialled 999 on her mobile and kept the operator on the line while she was molested by a soldier.
The 22-year-old Emirati sexually assaulted the Canadian woman in his car after driving to a desert area in Al Warqa in May this year.
The pair had previously met at a petrol station in Jumeirah and exchanged phone numbers. On the day of the incident, they went for dinner at a restaurant near International City.
“At 3am I told him to take me back to my car. He took a different road and placed his hand on my thigh before asking me to perform a sexual act, but I refused,” said the woman, adding the defendant threatened to hit her if she left the car.
“He threatened to slap me if I opened the door. I immediately dialled 999 and placed the phone beside me without him noticing. He then lay on top of me and started to molest me while I was resisting, screaming and crying,” the woman said.
A police patrol tracked down the victim’s phone using GPS.
“I parked in front of the defendant’s car to block him from escaping, the woman got out crying and came towards us. We arrested the serviceman and took him to the police station,” said a 37-year-old Emirati policeman.
In a recording of the phone call, the woman could be heard crying and saying “no” to the defendant, who threatened her and told her to spread her legs.
The soldier did not appear in Dubai Criminal Court to enter a plea to the charges of sexual assault, kidnapping and issuing threats. The next hearing is on January 10.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
