Dubai: A man has been accused of attempting to rape a tourist he met at a café, a court heard on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old Norwegian tourist was drinking at Hard Rock Café when the 33-year-old suspect from Comoros Island and his Emirati friend invited her to their table in December.
The two friends introduced themselves to the Norwegian tourist, according to records, and bought her another drink.
Then the three of them went in the Emirati’s car to Jumeirah area and were denied entry to a nightclub because she was under 21. The two men took her to another bar where they offered her a drink, after which the 19-year-old tourist claimed to have been sedated.
Records said the woman regained her consciousness only to find herself in her underwear in the car’s back seat with the 33-year-old trying to have sex with her.
She shouted and yelled until the Emirati intervened and pulled the suspect away from her.
The Emirati took the woman to his residence where she used the garden shower to freshen up. He then dropped her to her hotel in Al Garhoud.
When the Norwegian discovered that her phone and credit card were missing, she went to the nearest police station and lodged a complaint.
During interrogation, the police discovered that she had been abused sexually and molested.
The prosecutors accused the 33-year-old suspect of sexually abusing the tourist.
When he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday, the suspect denied molesting the girl and pleaded not guilty.
A police corporal claimed to prosecutors that the teen first reported them that she had been robbed.
“The woman claimed that in the night before, she was drinking alcohol at Hard Rock Café at 8pm … the suspect and his friend, who were seated at an adjacent table, asked her to join them. She did. The girl then claimed that they took her to another bar and she felt drowsy after they offered her drink. The Norwegian further claimed that the suspect tried to rape her in the car. We identified the two men from the hotel’s CCTV cameras,” he testified to prosecutors.
In her police complaint, the 19-year-old told interrogators that she had to shout, cry and beg the suspect not to rape her because she was still a virgin.
She also claimed that the suspect had abused her sexually before his friend intervened and foiled his bid to rape her.
Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal adjourned the case until the suspect hires a lawyer to defend him on December 10.
