Philippine Embassy, police deny rape report

The Abu Dhabi Police has confirmed the embassy statement that no rape occurred behind Marina Mall. “Nobody has filed a complaint regarding this matter,” a police officer told Khaleej Times.

In a written statement released on Monday, the embassy said, “After an exhaustive investigation, there is no conclusive evidence of any rape that occurred behind Marina Mall, that there was no rape victim allegedly treated at the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) and that there was no reported case of any rape victim who died as a result of the alleged incident.”

According to the news that spread among the Filipino community, two Filipinas on a visit visa hailed a taxi between 1am and 2am in Abu Dhabi. They were apparently intoxicated and the taxi driver took them to a construction site behind Marina Mall where several others were waiting. The gang took turns raping the two. One woman died on the spot while the other pretended to be dead. The story went on to say that she was taken to a hospital where she died the following day.

In relation to the alleged ‘rape’, a video speculated by some to be the second woman who allegedly died at SKMC was widely circulated and viewed on the Internet. The video which was posted on pinoychannel.tv and youtube showed an Asian woman with severe cuts on the face, arms and legs being attended to by physicians.

The embassy said they received an official letter from SKMC denying that the incident took place in their facility. The embassy also contacted the local hospitals here and all disproved the allegation.

“Though the content of the video itself is not in question, it would be extremely difficult to determine the victim’s identity, nationality and date/place of the incident based on the video alone,” added the statement.

Adelio Cruz, First Secretary and Consul-General at the embassy, told Khaleej Times that they are in touch with the relevant authorities and an investigation is currently underway to verify the source of the video.

Further announcements will be made as soon as details are confirmed, he added. Meanwhile, the embassy urged those concerned “to practise due diligence prior to spreading news that have not been verified nor validated by either the source of the information, the embassy or by the UAE authorities concerned. Such action will only result in unnecessary fear, confusion and misinformation.” — olivia@khaleejtimes.com