DUBAI // Five men - three Emiratis, an Omani and a stateless person - were sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for abducting two Ethiopian women, raping them and dumping them in the desert in February. One of the victims, BL, 19, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance that she and her friend had left a Jumeirah nightclub on Feb 22 this year at 3.10am, only to find no taxis waiting.
So when one of the defendants, AK, an Emirati, offered them a lift home they agreed to get into his car. Instead of taking them home, near the Burjuman shopping centre, the court found that AK picked up four friends, who the women said were drunk, and drove to Sharjah. They were taken to a remote desert spot where the five men beat and raped them before stealing their mobile phones and abandoning them.
Judge Fahmi Mounir ordered that the Omani and the stateless person be deported after serving their time in prison, and added an extra month of jail for all five men for drinking alcohol. hbathish@thenational.ae
