An Iranian man raped a woman in his car after asking her out for coffee, Dubai Criminal Court has heard.
Trial records showed the Filipina victim, 33, met the defendant, 29, through a mutual friend before being asked out to a barbecue on December 10 last year.
After she refused his initial invitation, the man texted the woman again and the pair agreed to have coffee together.
But she said that after picking her up outside a metro station near Al Ghurair in Dubai, the defendant drove off towards Dubai Zoo before raping her.
“I thought he was driving towards a cafe but he kept going and stopped near the zoo," the woman told the court.
"Then his friends arrived and they all started drinking alcohol while some smoked shisha."
After the defendant's friends left, the woman asked to be dropped at home and the man became aggressive, the court heard.
“He restrained both my hands with his right hand and tore up my clothes with the other," the victim said, adding that she had been scratched and bruised.
The suspect then drove the woman home where she reported the assault to police.
The court heard that the defendant denied rape and claimed sex had been consensual. The hearing was adjourned to September 3.
