10-year jail term for men who raped woman in hotel room

dubai — Three Saudi tourists, including two brothers aged 27 and 25, on trial for raping a Moroccan woman after inviting her to party in their hotel room, have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by deportation.

Public Prosecution records show the three men, all in their twenties, met the 33-year-old woman outside a nightclub and invited her over to their hotel. Once inside their room, the three men took turns raping her while covering her face with a pillow.

They also made her perform a sexual act on each one of them. The Court of First Instance convicted them on Wednesday of charges of rape, sexual assault and forcible theft, to which they earlier pleaded not guilty.

The incident took place on January 20 at a hotel in Al Muraqqabat.

The three men raped her after threatening to kill her. Her clothes were collected and sent for DNA tests.” Police lieutenant

The victim, a clerk, was referred to the Court of Misdemeanors on a charge of consuming alcohol without a licence.

She told the investigators that she was with her Algerian friend, 37, outside a nightclub when the three men invited her to go to their place. “My friend declined to go and went home. They offered me alcohol in their hotel room later and they drank too. Shortly after, they pretended they were fighting to lure me inside the bedroom. I sat on the bed next to one of them (the 27-year-old) but he suddenly grabbed me and forced a pillow on my face and they raped me one after the other,” she said. She was also sexually assaulted while one of them filmed it with his mobile phone. After they left the room, she got dressed and was about to call the police but she was surprised by them coming back. One of the brothers pushed her and snatched her mobile phone and ran out.

“She told me the three men raped her after threatening to kill her. She was referred to the Criminal Evidence Department where her clothes were collected for DNA tests,” a police lieutenant said.

The 27-year-old accused was left with visible scratches on his face, neck and chest, caused by the victim’s resistance. The forensic report and criminal evidence lifted from the crime scene showed the victim was indeed raped that night by the three accused.

The ruling may be appealed within 15 days.