DUBAI // A woman who claims she was raped has made up similar allegations before, a lawyer claimed on Tuesday.
The woman, an Emirati, claims she was driven into the desert and raped by F J, 29, also Emirati, who had been courting her.
But his lawyer, Saeed Al Ghilani, told the Criminal Court on Tuesday that the sex was consensual and the woman had a record of falsely accusing men of rape.
“She reported this latest incident as rape but investigations proved she was in the hotel room with a man with her own consent,” Mr Al Ghilani said.
He said she had been found guilty of consensual sex in a case heard in a Sharjah Court, where she also claimed to have been raped.
Mr Al Ghilani asked to cross-examine the woman and asked the court to contact Sharjah authorities for a copy of the case file.
Earlier in the trial, police captain M E, 31, said the woman was the second person to accuse the man of rape, and that police had been searching for him over the first allegation.
Prosecutors told the court the man called the woman, 25, on April 21 this year despite never having met her.
“I answered the call but didn’t know who he was so I told him I would call him later and hung up,” said the woman.
She said the man called back about 2pm and told her he knew her well, describing her looks and those of one of her friends.
“He said I would know him once I saw his Mercedes, Porsche and Range Rover. He asked to marry me and help end all my financial problems.”
She agreed to meet him, believing he would bring his sister along.
"We met at the Dubai Outlet Mall car park later that day, but when he called a friend and told him he was heading to Al Ain, I asked him to take me back to my car."
The woman claims that at this point he refused and drove her to the desert where he threatened to have her gang-raped if she did not have sex with him.
She said he was drinking and she tried to escape but he chased her and caught her before ripping off her abaya and forcing himself on her, then took her back to the mall.
“On the way, a police patrol saw us and they noticed I was crying hysterically so I told them everything,” said the woman.
The man was arrested.
A forensic expert reported that there were no signs of resistance on the woman’s body.
In court, the man denied a charge of forceful sexual assault. The case was adjourned to November 3.
salamir@thenational.ae
