Dubai: A jobless man, who directed his two farmers to help him kidnap a shepherd and bring him to a desert area where he raped him, will undergo life imprisonment.
The 39-year-old Emirati man visited his mother’s farm in Al Aweer area to take 10 sheep but the Pakistani shepherd did not allow him to do so in March 2016.
When the shepherd refused to give him the sheep, the Emirati returned to the farm with two Pakistani farmers, aged 21 and 24, and kidnapped the shepherd. They drove off to a desert area where the two farmers tied up the shepherd and the Emirati raped him.
On Wednesday, the Dubai Appeal Court upheld the Emirati’s life imprisonment and also confirmed the 10-year jail sentences of the two Pakistani farmers.
The farmers were convicted of aiding the Emirati defendant in his kidnap and rape crime.
In April, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the Emirati for life and the Pakistanis for 10 years in jail.
The trio appealed their judgements before the appellate court that rejected the three appeals.
Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm said the Pakistanis will be deported after serving their jail terms.
The farmers had pleaded not guilty.
They told the court that the Emirati man forced them to go with him and bring the shepherd to the desert.
The 30-year-old shepherd said he was asleep when the defendants woke him up and kidnapped him at knifepoint.
“They assaulted me and raped me … the 39-year-old drove his vehicle as he ordered the farmers to remove my clothes. He stopped in a desert area and dragged me out of the car. The Pakistani duo pinned me down and the Emirati raped me. Then he asked them to do the same … they were scared and so they pretended that they had raped me. The 39-year-old pointed the knife in my face again and said, ‘Can I take the sheep now that belong to my mother!’ We went back to the farm, and I got him one sheep that he slaughtered and had it barbecued,” he testified.
A police lieutenant said the Emirati defendant remained on the run in the desert for a few days before he was arrested.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
