A man has been jailed for a year for dragging his wife’s cousin from the kitchen to her bedroom and raping her.

The 27-year-old Emirati man assaulted the 27-year-old Filipina cousin of his wife in January 2016.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of raping the Filipina although he had pleaded not guilty and contended that they had consensual sex.

According to the primary judgement, the defendant was handed a lenient punishment as he suffers from epilepsy.

The Filipina said she had recently moved into the flat with her brother when the incident happened.

“My cousin [defendant’s wife] asked me and my brother to move in and stay temporarily with her husband while she was away in the Philippines. He needed someone to stay with him because he is epileptic. I constantly reminded him to take his medication and cooked for him before going to work. On the day of the incident, I returned to the flat at 6pm and he was present and was using his laptop. I entered the kitchen to cook and clean the dishes … after a while he came inside and asked me to go to my bedroom. When I refused, he grabbed me by my hands and forced me into the bedroom. He threw me on the bed … I begged him to stop and reminded him that we were relatives. He did not care and pursued his sexual assault. He raped me. I called up a friend for help … when I left the flat, I reported the matter to the police,” she testified to prosecutors.

A policeman testified that the accused told him that the woman removed her clothes on her own and threw herself at him.

“He claimed that he rejected her sexual advances and threw her out of the flat where she had been staying with him. … the Filipina countered the defendant’s allegations and said he raped her,” testified the policeman.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 13 days.

Source: gulfnews.com