Pilot accused of raping Filipino woman in UAE

MANILA: A pilot has been arrested and terminated from his post after being accused of raping a Filipino woman in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

The Arab, 36, is under trial at the Sharjah Criminal Court for rape, assault and consuming alcohol, reports The Khaleej Times.

When police accompanied the woman to the man’s apartment, the accused did not answer the door and tried to flee through a window, according to a witness.

Cops were, however, able to arrest him and he has been in jail since.

According to the 34-year-old woman’s statement to the police, she met the man at a nightclub. He offered to bring her home and she agreed since he appeared “decent.”

The man said that he was at the club to celebrate his new job at an airline where he was set to earn Dh70,000 (approximately P970,000) a month.

The woman rode in the car with the man’s friend at the wheel. However, instead of driving to her residence, the woman was taken to the man’s apartment in Sharjah, which is 29 kilometers from Dubai.

When they arrived in front of his apartment, the man grabbed her phone as she was exiting the car, and told her he would only give it to her inside his place.

The woman followed him inside where he slapped and then sexually assaulted her.

According to the accused, the woman consensually agreed to enter his apartment and that her false accusations were about his refusal to pay her.

Witnesses include a police officer who saw the victim in “extreme shock,” while a guard corroborated that the victim was seen sitting outside the apartment.

A tenant in the building also told the guard that an incident of rape occurred.

The defendant’s friend who drove that evening claimed that the man had insisted that he drive them because he was intoxicated, and told him to drive to his place in Sharjah.

The apartment’s building manager also stated that the accused’s residence was found with belongings scattered, indicating that the complainant had struggled with the attacker.

He also said the man usually arrived drunk and with women.

A forensic report revealed that the woman suffered from bruises due to violence.

A test showed that DNA on the victim’s clothes and body belonged to the accused. - The Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network