Dubai: A tourist who alleges she was raped has been accused of having consensual sex and will be tried in absentia, Gulf News learnt on Wednesday. Records show the Austrian woman collected her passport and returned to Vienna late last month.
Prosecutors have charged the 29-year-old woman, E.F., with getting drunk and having consensual sex with a Yemeni man, A.J., and referred the couple to the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.
“The accusation has become official and final against E.F. and A.J. The Austrian, who is on bail, failed to attend an investigation hearing before prosecutors on February 2. After hearing witnesses and examining forensic evidence prosecutors charged the couple with having consensual sex. Law enforcement procedures will be carried out whether she is present or not. The woman will be tried in absentia in case she fails to show up before the court,” a senior prosecution source told Gulf News.
No date has been scheduled for the hearing before the Misdemeanours Court.
The woman’s lawyer, Mohammad Al Redha, told Gulf News: “The hearing will take place whether she is present or not. If she does not come then she will be tried and sentenced in absentia. Considering that she is on bail she may still attend the trial. She has the full right to maintain that she was raped and defend herself.”
The lawyer confirmed the Criminal Procedures Law enables a defendant who is sentenced in absentia to contest and request a retrial. He refused to give further details due to confidentiality.
The decision to refer the couple to court was issued on February 2, according to the prosecution source.
Gulf News reported earlier that on December 19 E.F. lodged a request to collect her passport and have it replaced by that of a guarantor. The request was approved on January 14 but records did not specify when she collected her passport.
Austrian media reports cited an Austrian Foreign Ministry’s statement confirming that the woman landed in Vienna on January 30.
The woman alleged earlier that A.J. raped her in the underground parking area of a Bur Dubai hotel following a UAE National Day party.
However, in her statement before prosecutors she confirmed that the Yemeni tricked her into getting into his car where he raped her after locking the doors.
The woman alleged that she was pressured by the man and his father, who is a policeman, into confessing to having consensual sex. Meanwhile the Yemeni claimed that the Austrian offered him paid sex.
