Court upholds jail terms for rapists

Five convicts kidnapped a woman and gang-raped her in the desert at knifepoint

Legal and Court Correspondent

Three men will spend their sentences behind bars after losing appeal in the case of kidnapping a secretary on a motorbike, gang-raping and molesting her in the desert at knifepoint.

The victim, a Kenyan secretary, 41, and her compatriot friend were walking near Al Khail Gate when a group of five persons — three adults and two teenagers — stopped them at 2.30am.

The five threatened the Kenyan man and woman with a knife and a rock as the woman attempted to run from the scene. They stopped her and forced her to ride with them on a motorbike to a deserted spot.

After having threatened to kill the Kenyan man if he shouted or tried to chase them, the five assailants took the woman, forced her to strip at knifepoint and raped and abused her.

In January, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed an Emirati defendant and another man who does not have personal identification papers for 15 years each for raping the Kenyan woman at knifepoint. A Pakistani defendant was jailed 10 years for molesting the secretary and trying to rape her.

The Appeal Court rejected the defendants’ appeal and upheld their punishments. The Dubai Juvenile Court jailed one of the teenagers involved in the case for six months. Both teenagers will be deported.