Salesman denies rape charge, claiming he is being ‘framed’

A 28-year-old salesman denied breaking into the home of a woman in Dubai then raping her at knifepoint.

At Dubai Criminal Court yesterday, the defendant, from Sierra Leone, said the woman was framing him.

“There is an issue between this woman and me and she is framing me,” he said. The judge would not allow him to elaborate because rape cases require a lawyer to be present and he did not have one.

The Egyptian woman, 43, told prosecutors that on December 13 two years ago, the defendant came to her apartment asking about a friend, but she threw him out.

“Later the same night, he returned, broke into the apartment … gagged me to stop me from screaming then threatened me with a weapon and raped me,” she said. He dragged her into the kitchen and raped her on the floor,” she said. “I resisted but he was very strong.”

Police said the lock was broken but from the inside, not the outside.

The woman’s flatmate told prosecutors that she received a call from the Egyptian who was crying and telling her to come home quickly.

“There were no signs of force on the woman’s body when she was checked,” said a forensic expert. But traces of the man’s DNA were found in the apartment.

The accused denied charges of rape and theft. The next hearing will be on October 29.