Pilot accused of raping woman in Sharjah apartment

A 36-year-old Arab pilot lost his job after he was accused of raping a 34-year-old Filipino woman in his apartment in Sharjah.

The Sharjah Criminal Court has started the trial of the pilot, who has been charged with rape, assault and consuming alcohol, by the public prosecutors.

The victim told the police that he dragged her to his apartment and raped her. She added that she had met the accused in a night club. The man offered to drop her off at her residence. Since he looked decent, the woman accepted his offer, the victim said.

The man and his friend -- who drove the car -- took the woman from Dubai to Sharjah. They stopped the car in front of the apartment that belonged to the accused. The accused snatched her phone away while getting out of the car. The woman followed him inside to get her phone. He said he would give me my phone in his apartment, the victim said. However, once the woman was in, the pilot closed the door and forced himself on her. He slapped her before sexually assaulting her, the victim said. The woman informed the police later.

However, the defendant denied the charges and said the woman came with him to his apartment on her own consent. He said the woman had falsely implicated him of rape as he refused to pay the amount agreed between them.

Meanwhile, the forensic report showed presence of bruises on the woman's body caused by violence. Forensic evidence also confirmed that DNA found on victim's clothes and body matched with that of the accused.

The first witness -- who works in Sharjah police patrols -- said during the prosecutor's investigations that on the day of the incident, they were informed about a case of rape in one of the main buildings in Moyleh area in Sharjah. One of the policemen saw the victim in a state of extreme shock. A guard told the cops that a woman who lives on the second floor of the building told him there was a rape. He saw the victim sitting outside the apartment.

The witness said the woman was taken to the apartment of the accused with other cops. Despite knocking at the door, the defendant didn't open it. When the policemen saw the defendant trying to escape from the window, they nabbed him.

The second witness -- the friend of the accused -- said that he accompanied the defendant at a night club in Dubai where they met the woman. After the party, the defendant requested him to take him and the woman in his car but he refused. But when he insisted, he agreed. He told him to drive the car to Sharjah instead of dropping the woman in Dubai and said he will drop her off in a taxi, because he is drunk and cannot drive, the witness said. He dropped them and went off.

The manager of the building where the defendant lives said the man always came in drunk while he was accompanied by women. He said that the victim doesn't appear to be a bad woman and it happened without her consent. He added when they entered the apartment, they found that things were scattered in the room which shows she resisted the attack.

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He went to celebrate new job offer

The pilot -- who has been in jail for days now -- said he was devastated as he had lost his job in the airline where he was working and drawing a good salary. He added he had got a new job offer with another airline which offered him Dh70,000 monthly salary. He went to celebrate with his friends in a night club after receiving the offer, where he met the woman.

• Dubai
• Sharjah

Amira Agarib

amira@khaleejtimes.com