Jail for man who tried to rape woman at bus stop

dubai — A drunk man, who dragged a woman from the bus stop to behind a truck and tried to rape her, has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Even though the 24-year-old Pakistani construction worker denied charges of rape and consumption of alcohol without a licence in the Court of First Instance, the court found him guilty and ordered him be jailed for six months and to pay a Dh2,000 fine on the alcohol charge. He will be deported after that.

The incident happened around 10.30pm on July 12 in Al Quoz.

He was sitting next to the Filipina victim at the bus stop when he suddenly grabbed her, dragged her by force to where a heavy truck was parked by the side of the road. He tried to rape her behind the truck but she resisted while four men arrived and took him away from her.

“I was waiting at the bus stop but had to move when I spotted the accused staring at me inappropriately,” the victim, a 33-year-old accountant, said.

“When I stood up, he came closer. I told him to stay away or I would call the police but he did not mind. I got scared and picked up a stick with which I hit him on his hand twice. But he snatched it and threw it away.”

She could not escape as he grabbed her by the hands from behind and lifted her. “He took me behind a heavy vehicle near the bus stop where he tried to rape me. But I kept screaming,” the victim recounted.

A 42-year-old Indian supervisor, who witnessed the incident, said he had to pull over when he spotted the accused grabbing the woman at the bus stop.

“I heard her screaming and then saw her behind a truck. She was on her knees crying and trying to keep the man from taking her shirt off. I pulled him away from her and then four men arrived and grabbed the accused. As we called the police he tried to run away but we caught him.”

mary@khaleejtimes.com