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Two arrested on charges of rape

SHARJAH — Two UAE national cousins were recently arrested by the Sharjah Police for allegedly raping an Ethiopian maid who was serving an Arab family in the Al Nassiriya area in Sharjah.

The 28-year-old, Ethiopian woman, claimed that B. A. H. and A. A. H pushed her forcibly into their car and took her to isolated area near the University of Sharjah, where B. A. H. raped her while A. A. H held her. She said that A. A. H tried to stop his cousin by telling him it was a sin what he was doing. After they raped her, they dropped her in the Al Butaina area.

During the interrogation, B. A. H. said he had an illicit relationship with her and she always used to call him and chat with him like her boyfriend. He proved it by showing the phone bill of Etisalat which revealed that they both had called each other and had long conversations several times. While B. A. H. confessed that he had sexual intercourse with her, he said it was with her consent, and not by force. Ahmed denied that he had held her and took her by force. He said his cousin B. A. H. called her to meet them in Al Nassiriya to go for a picnic. She agreed and came to the place we all decided to meet at, and she jumped into the car on her own will, and no one had forced her.

M. H., the father of A. A. H, told Khaleej Times that the Ethiopian girl filed a complaint in the court and asked him to pay Dh70,000 to quash the case and get the boys released, who are currently in the prison. He refused to give her the money and told her that the law was just, and if the boy had done anything wrong with her, they deserved to be punished for that. “She called me again and asked for Dh50,000 and I refused the second time too, because I’m quite confident that my son and my nephew would never rape a woman, but they can go with a woman out of her own choice,” he added.

Salem Obaid Sahoh, lawyer of the accused told Khaleej Times that the girl’s answers during interrogation were conflicting and the Etisalat bill proved that B. A. H. had a long-term illicit relationship with her. So, the case is not considered rape, but adultery, which is forbidden in Sharia Law. The two boys will be punished for committing adultery, not rape. They would be sentenced to three months in prison.

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