Man on trial in Dubai for raping stepdaughter's friend

A British building consultant allegedly raped his stepdaughter’s friend who was staying overnight in his house after a birthday party, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

Friends who attended the party testified that they saw SB, 63, chasing, hugging and groping the victim CA, during K’s birthday party.

On November 27, CA, 17, British, went to her friend’s house at around 6.30pm and met about 20 friends there and enjoyed food with them.

During the party, K’s mother, stepfather and some adults consumed alcohol.

In the evening, CA lost her mobile phone and started searching for it.

“While searching for my mobile, my friend’s step father groped my lower back strongly and repeatedly.

“When I went out to the garden to look for my mobile, he chased me there and hugged me from the back strongly. His wife noticed him and shouted at him saying: ‘I want divorce.’ He also flattered me, saying to me that I am beautiful and wished he was young enough to chase me. All this was in front of everyone.”

Some friends left the house after the party while others stayed overnight in bedrooms upstairs.

“My friend K gave me a dress to sleep in. As I could not sleep, I knocked at the door of a room where my South African friend BR was sleeping. He opened the door and we went downstairs to get some water. We saw our friend’s stepfather sitting on a sofa. He asked me to sleep on the sofa but I refused,” said the victim.

“In the morning, I woke up as someone was groping my body. I turned and saw my friend’s stepfather. He asked me to keep quiet and when I resisted him, he pinned me to the bed and raped me,” she said.

The accused then took a bath and left the house.

The victim rushed to K’s room but the latter did not open the door. So she knocked on the door of BR’s room and told him what happened.

BR, 18, asked her not to tell anyone so as not to cause a problem. Friends who stayed overnight had breakfast before leaving the house.

At around 10am, the accused returned home and asked the victim to leave the house by taxi and not to wait for her mother. However, the mother came and picked her up. The victim could not tell her mother anything.

The victim, who was in state of shock, spoke about the incident to a school friend. The friend took the victim to the school’s administration and the crime was reported to the police.

Forensic reported bruises on the victim’s arms and leg.

However, it reported that there was no evidence or traces of  recent sexual intercourse.

School friends who attended the party all testified that they saw K’s step father groping the victim in public.

JJ, 18, Indian student, told investigators, that all people in ‘K’s house noticed how the stepfather flattered and groped the victim and how she was avoiding him all the time and was very annoyed.

“We also commented that how he is a womaniser,” she said.

JJ was among those who left K’s house after the party.

EA, 37, British vice-rector of the school, testified that the victim and her friend K have an intimate relationship, denying any possibility of making a mere claim against her friend’s stepfather.

She also said that she felt the victim was being truthful when she reported the crime to her.

The accused denied the charge and the court will reconvene on April 18.

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