Woman faked rape claim to force colleague into marriage, Abu Dhabi court hears

Woman tells court she had sex with a co-worker to force him into marriage.

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ABU DHABI // A woman claimed she had been raped by a colleague to force him into marriage, a court heard this week.

MF, from the Philippines, and MM, from Egypt are both standing trial in the Criminal Court on charges of having sex outside of wedlock.

The trial followed a complaint by the Filipina that the man had raped her.

However, both now deny having had any sexual contact whatsoever.

The woman's lawyer Amala Al Zaabi told the court yesterday that the pair had been working in the same household and that the man had repeatedly rejected her client's marriage proposals.

"After he rejected her most recent proposal she got angry and told him she would make him marry her no matter what," said the lawyer.

"Driven by this anger she thought if she made a big deal and pretended he had raped her that he would agree to marry her."

She was not aware of UAE laws and that the issue could land the pair in prison.

"She thought it would end at the police station, but somehow it got out of hand," continued Mrs Al Zaabi.

She said that there was no evidence the pair had sex.

"The whole charge was based on her testimony, and she just denied it happened."

The lawyer requested the charge to be changed to false reporting.

The case was adjourned to June 26.

hdajani@thenational.ae