UAE policeman gets six months in jail

A policeman, accused of raping his fiancée, has been sentenced to six months in jail by the Court of First Instance.

He earlier pleaded before the court that he was innocent.

According to public prosecution documents, the 28-year-old Emirati cop raped his fiancée in his car last March.

However, the officer denied the rape charge during the trial and the public prosecution investigation, claiming the complainant was his wife and it would be unreasonable for someone to rape one's wife.

His defense lawyer argued for the court to clear his client of any wrongdoing on the grounds that the two were, in principle, married at that time and what happened was between a married couple. He argued that his client had proposed to the woman at her parents' house, and his proposal was accepted. He added that their relation became official as it was declared among friends and relatives.

As the defendant strongly refuted the rape charge, the complainant earlier told the court the matter had been settled amicably after the defendant married her.

The defendant met the complainant in 2015. Both were based at the Dubai International Airport.

The complainant, who works at an airline company, told the investigators that the defendant had proposed to her at her place and they were engaged. However, he had sex with her against her will on the fateful day while she was in his car.

In her complaint, the woman earlier testified that the accused was driving her around when he suddenly parked his car in a residential area and hit on her.

"He picked me up from where I parked my car. However, during the ride, he took me by surprise and I screamed and begged him not to do anything wrong as we were still engaged then. But he would not listen and told me there was no use screaming as none was around."

Source: Khaleej Times