Man jailed for bid to rape jobseeker

A man has been jailed for a year for luring a jobseeker to his residence, forcibly disrobing her and then attempting to rape her.

The 26-year-old Filipina accountant met with the 46-year-old Gulf national, who claimed that he runs a tourism company and wanted to hire her as an accountant in January 2018. Shortly after she called the accused, he picked her up and drove her around Burj Khalifa where he told her his company was based. The defendant took the Filipina to his villa in Al Rashidiya after he kept her under the impression that they would wait for other employees to take them to their company-provided residence.

Once the two entered a room in the villa, the accused started making sexual advancements which she rejected. Owing to the man’s build, the Filipina was scared to resist the accused, who forced her to remove her clothes and tried to rape her. When he failed in his attempt due to biological reasons, the accused beat her and forced her to perform bizarre acts.

Attempting to outsmart the accused by pretending to be cooperating with him, she discretely tried to call the police from her phone upon which the accused beat her. When she tried to fool the accused the second time, he assaulted her even more and grabbed her neck. He also struck her with a stick and yelled at her, but when she yelled back at him he allowed her to leave the room. Walking out of the room barefoot, the woman called the police immediately.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the accused of assaulting the Filipina victim and attempting to rape her.

“The accused will pay Dh21,000 in temporary civil compensation to the victim. He will also pay Dh500 lawyers’ fees,” said presiding judge Mohammad Jamal. The ruling remains subject to appeal.