Woman 'escaped rape by locking herself in the toilet'

DUBAI // A woman escaped her would-be rapist by locking herself in the toilet and calling police, a court heard today.

S?S, a 35-year-old beauty salon worker from Pakistan, met her friend and compatriot S?M, 38, on October 21 last year at his apartment at International City.

The woman said the two had become "like brother and sister" after a friend gave her the man's phone number before she arrived in Dubai. "I was told to call him if I needed any help here since I was new in the country."

She said they often met on weekends, when they would go for lunches. On the day of the alleged attack, she said that the man invited her to his apartment and she agreed.

"I asked him to use the toilet," she said. When she came out of the bathroom she said the man was lying on the bed. She began to feel afraid and asked him to take her home. "He pulled me by my hand and pushed me to bed saying he wanted to have sex with me," she said.

She resisted. The two struggled but she calmed the man down by pretending to relent and asked to use the bathroom once more.

She managed to get into the room, lock the door and call police. Officers called the man and kept him on the phone until a patrol arrived at the apartment.

The man denied a charge of attempted rape at the Dubai Criminal Court. A verdict is expected on May 23.

salamir@thenational.ae