Jury cuts jail sentence from 15 years to one

MAS, a 24-year-old jobless Emirati who was earlier convicted of kidnapping, raping and assaulting a married woman to force her divorce and was sentenced to 15 years in jail, was on Monday acquitted from kidnap and rape charges but found guilty of assault and had his sentence reduced to just one year in jail when his case was heard by a new jury.

The convict had been awarded a15-year jail term last September in absentia. He rejected the sentence and asked the Court to refer his case to another jury and so it was done. The new jury found him not guilty of  kidnap and rape but it convicted him for assault and sentenced him to one year in jail.

The convict’s marriage proposal to the woman was turned down by her parents and she was married to another man.  But the convict continued chasing her and her sister and expressing his love for the woman.

The 29-year-old victim, HAN, Emirati, testified that on December 11, 2011, at around 4pm she went to sit for evening class examinations.

“As I stopped my car in the parking at the school, MAS opened the front door and sat next to me. He wanted to talk to me and asked me to get into his car. When I refused, he pulled a knife, hit the box in the middle and damaged the leather. As I was scared of him, I asked him to allow me to sit for the exams and then we will talk.

“I took my bag and got down from the car. I took out my mobile phone to talk to my husband, but when MAS saw me, he rushed with his car towards me and insisted that I should get into his car. The school’s guard was watching, so I got into his car. He took the mobile and drove to Al Ain.

“He talked to my sister and told her that I am with him. He was beating me and I was crying and asking him to drop me all the way back. When we reached Al Ain, he stopped behind a car at a hotel. His friends in the car told him that they have booked a room. He asked me to come with him. I was very scared of him so I went with him.

“In the room he said that he wanted to have sex with me. I refused but he had forcible sex with me. Then I asked him to drop me back. On the way, I asked him for a bottle of water. When he got down at a petrol station, I jumped into the driver’s seat and drove the car away. On the way, I stopped a man and asked him permission to use his mobile phone. I called my husband and told him what happened. Then I drove back to Dubai,” she testified.

Her sister NMS, 33, testified that her parents refused the accused when he asked for her sister’s hand. “MAS continued calling my sister and sending her SMS messages. He used to call me sometimes, expressing his love for my sister. I asked him to forget my sister who had married and to look for another woman to marry. On the day of the crime, he called me and knew from me that my sister was to sit for exams,” she testified.

The victim’s husband testified that he got a call from an unfamiliar number and that his wife was at the other end. She told me that she is in Al Ain and that a man had kidnapped her.

“Later, I got a call from a man who said he had kidnapped my wife and asked me to return his car which my wife drove away. When she arrived at her sister’s place, she asked me to accompany her to the police station where she said that MAS had kidnapped and raped her to force her divorce,” he testified.

Police reported that the middle box in the victim’s car was damaged with four cuts caused by a sharp tool such as a knife.

The forensic report said sexual intercourse had taken place between the accused and the victim.
 

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