Man cleared of kidnapping and sexually abusing visitor

Lawyer argued that woman had lied about abuse and gave inconsistent statement

Ajobless man was cleared yesterday of posing as a policeman, kidnapping a visitor and sexually abusing her.

The Filipina visitor had been staying at her aunt’s house when she went out to dispose of the garbage in Al Rashidiya in June 2017. The woman alleged that the 31-year-old Omani man stopped her while she was walking back to her aunt’s residence, claimed to be a policeman and asked her to get inside his vehicle.

The Filipina said she felt scared when he yelled at her and ordered her to sit in the front passenger seat even as she tried to tell him to wait until she informed her aunt. The Filipina then opened the car door and sat in the front passenger seat before the Omani drove off.

He pulled his car over in a sandy and unpopulated area, according to the Filipina’s claims, before he groped her and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Citing lack of corroborated and sufficient evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the Omani man of kidnapping and sexually abusing the Filipina.

The man’s lawyer, Saeed Al Ghailani, argued before the court: “The law enforcement procedures were carried out improperly against my client. The Filipina claimant lied about the kidnap and sex abuse. She even was not sure of how the person who had abused her looked like. Once she was shown the photo of a person at the police station, she suspected that it was him … but it wasn’t. She also failed to give the description of the car in which she claimed to have been abused.

“The woman’s statement was inconsistent … she alleged that my client had touched her private parts and made her become a woman. Upon being examined by the forensic examiners, it was reported that she is still a virgin. Her statement is full of lies. She claimed that the suspect beat her and that she resisted him … but the forensic examination report did not show any traces of DNA or nail-scratches that matched with those of my client,” said Al Ghailani.

A policeman testified that the suspect had dismissed the Filipina’s allegations.