Ex-inspector cleared of raping woman, jailed over illicit sex in Dubai

Dubai - The accused denied the charge and claimed it was a consensual sex for Dh1,000.

A 23-year-old former inspector has been cleared by a Dubai court of the charges of raping a taxi passenger and impersonating a police officer.
The Court of First Instance sentenced the Jordanian man to six months in jail on an illicit consensual sex charge.
Public prosecution records show that on March 31, 2014, in Al Qusais, the defendant, who used to work as an inspector, intercepted the cab in which the victim, a Moroccan, was traveling in. She claimed he took her away in his car as she stepped off the taxi, and raped her.
The accused denied the charge and claimed it was a consensual sex for Dh1,000. He told the investigators the woman had run away and he did not pay her.
The victim, a hairdresser, 24, said she was coming back in a taxi from a night club in Bur Dubai around 4am, when a man standing near her place stopped the taxi and asked for her ID. "He said he was from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and then told me to ride in his car as he smelled my breath and could tell I had been drinking alcohol. He said it was not allowed here and he would take me into custody on that charge. He drove to a dark location where he raped me."
A Moroccan waiter, 36, said he was with the victim in the taxi. "A man suddenly came from the parking lot and told the driver to stop. We then stepped off as that man continued to stop taxis that were passing.
"He asked me about my residence and after learning I stayed in Dubai, told me to leave. He said the woman should go with him," the waiter said. 
The court ruling has been appealed.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai