Man, prostitute assault each other over money in Dubai taxi

Dubai - The man even stole her money and mobile phones.

A man and a prostitute, who fought over money in a cab after which he assaulted her and stole her cash and mobile phones, were both charged at a Dubai court on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Saudi man has been accused at the Court of First Instance of stealing the 21-year-old Moroccan woman's mobile phones and Dh500 after physically assaulting her. The woman has been charged with working in prostitution.
Both have dropped charges against each other.
A police corporal said the woman first claimed she did not know the man and that he rode in the same cab with her without permission. "She claimed that he grabbed her by the hand and told the driver to take them to his hotel. However, surveillance cameras of the hotel where they were showed they had been there together earlier that night.
"The man claimed he had paid her Dh2,000 to have sex with her. Following their dispute in the cab, he tried to get his money back in vain. So he took her mobile phones and Dh500."
The incident was reported on January 9 this year at Bur Dubai police station.
The Pakistani taxi driver said the two defendants were standing in a queue in the waiting area outside the hotel.
"The man wanted to go to the hotel where he stayed. Both were drunk and smelled like alcohol. As I reached Al Garhoud bridge, the two began to fight. The man then slapped her on the face. He then punched her on the head, face and back. I pulled over to stop him from further assaulting the woman and I called the police. Before the police arrived, I saw the defendant taking money from the woman's purse. I heard later the woman telling the police that he also stole her mobile phone."
A medical report, the woman got from a hospital, showed she sustained shoulder scratches, chest and thigh pain as well as a bruise on her forehead.     
A surveillance camera installed inside the cab captured the two accused riding together, talking, assaulting each other and then the man stealing from the woman.
CCTV footage taken from the hotel where the pair was partying at a nightclub was also used in the case.
Several messages sent on WhatsApp by her to the man showed their prior agreement to have sex for different amounts of money.
The trial has been adjourned to May 19.

• Dubai