UAE Court Upholds Jail Term vs. 2 Drivers for Kidnapping, Raping Pinay
A United Arab Emirates court on Monday upheld the seven-year jail terms of two drivers found guilty of kidnapping a Filipina from a nightclub and raping her in a mini-van.
The two drivers, Pakistanis aged 33 and 27, lost their appeal before the Dubai Appeal Court, UAE news site Gulf News reported.
Investigation had showed the two lured the Filipina jobseeker, 31, from the nightclub and threatened her so she would have sex with them.
Both drivers claimed before the appellate court that they had paid sex with the Filipina.
The appellate judgement remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 28 days, the report said.
Citing court records, the report said one of the suspects introduced himself to the Filipina as a Belgian businessman. She agreed to accompany the suspect after he promised to help her find a job.
But once the couple stepped out of a taxi, the suspect opened the door of a parked mini-van and pushed her in. The van then sped off.
The report said the two men even claimed to be policemen beore raping her one at a time.
“We agreed to have sex with her for Dh50. She came with us in the minivan willingly. We did not assault her or have sex with her against her will. It was consensual,” one of the suspects told the court.
The other claimed the act was totally consensual.
Meanwhile, one of the suspects, who was found with military badges, claimed he used to drive military cadets in the mini-van and one of the students had left the badges. He faces a separate month in jail for keeping the military badges with him illegally.
The Filipina said she had told the drivers she was not a prostitute after they mistook her for one.
“When I told him that he mistakenly thought I was a sex worker, he got angry. He slapped me, threatened to imprison me, cut my hair,” she said.
She said she went to the nightclub with friends and met one of the suspects in the elevator and he claimed to be a Belgian businessman.
“When he learned that I was looking for a job, he offered to help me. I agreed to go with him to his residence because I desperately needed a job as I had been staying on a visit visa,” she said.
The Filipina said she reported the incident to the police who identified the drivers from the vehicle’s license plate.