Bogus delivery man 'raped woman'

DUBAI // A 24-year-old man beat a woman unconscious and raped her after tricking his way into her home by pretending to be a delivery driver, a court heard yesterday. The woman, however, for reasons that were not reported, asked that the case be dropped. The court denied her request. Under UAE law, criminal cases must be prosecuted once they reach court.

AA, a Syrian, surreptitiously acquired the woman's phone number from a work colleague who knew her because he came from the same town in Syria as she did, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance was told. AA called the 41-year-old businesswoman and told her he was from a cargo services company and had items to deliver, prosecutors said. She gave him directions to her home. When AA arrived he pushed the door open, threw the woman to the floor, kicked her, jumped on her, beat her unconscious and raped her, according to court records.

The woman suffered injuries to her shoulder and her stomach during the attack in November last year. "He told me that he had given up on life and wanted to rape me," prosecutors said she told them. DNA evidence, presented in court, showed that AA sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said. AA denied the charges of assault and rape, and the case was adjourned to September 29. @Email:amustafa@thenational.ae