Soldier given seven years in prison by Dubai court for raping maid

DUBAI // A soldier has been jailed for seven years for raping his maid.

The Dubai Criminal Court heard that on November 21 last year S A, 37, an Emirati, returned home and gave his Filipina maid his uniform to wash.

“He came back a few minutes later and asked me if anyone else was at the house. When I said no, he grabbed my arm started to take me to his room,” said the 29-year-old maid.

She screamed for help and begged him, unsuccessfully, to let her go.

Afterwards, she ran into a bathroom and locked herself in.

“He showered then came to me to where I was hiding and apologised to me,” she said.

She waited until he was gone then sneaked out of the house and took a bus to the Philippines Consulate where she told them of the incident.

She said the consulate did not help her and instead referred her to the labour office that brought her to the country.

The office sent her to Rashid Hospital, where she was denied a medical check and ordered to go to the police station and report the rape first.

A A, 35, a police major, testified that after the woman reported the incident to Al Qusais police station, a patrol was sent to the man’s house in Oud Al Mutainah.

But S A refused to open the door. “We obtained a prosecution approval then one officer climbed the wall and arrested the defendant,” said A A.

DNA tests on samples taken off the woman’s body matched the defendant’s.

S A denied the charges at his first hearing in April.

“I’m not guilty,” he told the judges, saying he had been kept in custody for six months.

salamir@thenational.ae