Man allegedly raped girlfriend at home

DUBAI // A man allegedly raped his girlfriend after luring her to his house, claiming he wanted to show her where they would live as married couple.

FA, 24, an Emirati, denied charges of kidnapping AA and raping her on January 6 this year.

"Everything was with her consent your honour," he said.

The victim, 28, also Emirati, testified that the defendant told her in a text message that he wanted to ask for her hand in marriage but she ignored his message.

"When I did not respond to his message he texted me again then called me to tell me about his marriage intention so I told him that we didn't know each other well but he said he felt comfortable towards me and that he loved me," AA said in prosecution records.

She said the calls continued and on the day of the incident he called her in the morning and told her he had been in a car accident, but wanted to see after he left the hospital. Then, he could show her the house where they would live together after marriage.

"I hesitated but under his insistence I met him in front of the house after he gave me directions," she said. When she arrived he asked her to come into the house but she refused so he dragged her inside the house while slapping her.

Court records said he grabbed her from the back of her neck and dragged her up the stairs to a bedroom in the first floor and locked the door with the key.

"I was trying to get out of the room but he slapped me and dragged me to bed," AA said.

She said he told her he wanted to have sex with her so she could not marry any other man. She said she tried to lock herself in the bathroom, but he grabbed her. He then raped her and took pictures of her topless.

Afterwards, AA got dressed and asked the defendant to let her go. A few days after the alleged incident, the defendant stopped taking her calls and AA became afraid he would not marry her. She told her sister and the sister and brother-in-law advised her to make a police report.

salamir@thenational.ae