DUBAI // A 28-year-old woman threw herself out of a speeding car to escape being kidnapped by a friend, the Dubai Criminal Court was told.
Emirati K A, 28, who works as a customs inspector, was charged with the kidnap of Serbian S B, also 28, and endangering her life by refusing to stop the car.
He denied charges when he appeared before the court last year. But he was found guilty on Thursday and sentenced to three years in jail.
S B, who worked for a computer services company, said she was invited to dinner by K A on August 23, 2013. “He asked me to park my car in Jumeirah near a shopping mall and then he would come to pick me up,” S B said. The pair then went to a hotel in Festival City where they had dinner and drank alcohol.
“At about 11pm I asked him to drive me back to my car but instead he drove towards Sharjah,” S B said. “I asked him to take the first exit to Dubai but he sped up and only took the exit when I opened the car door.”
S B said K A pulled her hair, slapped her face and kicked her legs. She said she opened the door again and was about to jump out when he pulled her back by her hair. Eventually she managed to jump out of the moving car and suffered bruising all over her body and the loss of sight in one eye as a result.
The court ordered the confiscation of K A’s vehicle, which was used in the kidnap attempt, and ordered him to pay S B Dh21,000 as temporary compensation.
S B has the right to file a civil lawsuit to request additional compensation.
salamir@thenational.ae
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