Dubai: A Dubai salesman from India was sentenced to life by the Dubai Court of First Instance for raping a housewife inside her home and threatening her with a knife. He also stole Dh200 from her while being under the influence of alcohol.
The court heard that a 39-year-old Indian woman went to drop her son to the school bus pick-up point outside her building in the Naif area of Dubai in February 2020. When she returned to her apartment, the defendant approached her from behind, put a knife to her throat and asked to me enter the apartment.
“After I dropped my son, someone put a knife on my throat and asked me to enter the apartment. I yelled but nobody heard me. I resisted and kicked him, but he pushed me into the bedroom,” the victim said on record. The 23-year-old Indian defendant forced the woman to take off her clothes and recorded her naked using his mobile phone, before raping her.
“He stole Dh200 and threatened to publish the video clip if I alerted the police. He told me that he was monitoring me every time I stepped out to visit the supermarket in the neighbourhood.”
The woman then informed her husband, who alerted the Naif Police Station.
A 34-year-old Emirati policeman testified that a team of officers identified the salesman after two days of investigation. “He admitted to the crime and we found Dh135 in his possession. He claimed that it was part of the money he had stolen from the victim,” said the Emirati police officer on record.
During interrogation, the defendant confessed to raping the woman under the influence of alcohol.
Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with rape, robbery and illegally consuming alcohol.
The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.
