UAE- Man gets three years jail for rape attempt on model

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A man, who was allegedly drunk when he entered a flat and tried to rape a resident by covering her head with a plastic bag, has been sentenced to three years in jail. The court of first instance was told that the 27-year-old jobless, a Comoros Islands passport holder, barged into a flat and physically assaulted a Moroccan model.

The court convicted him of charges including attempted rape, physical assault and trespassing and referred him to the Court of Misdemeanors on the charge of consuming alcohol without a licence. It ordered that the man be deported after completing his jail term.

The incident was reported to Al Muraqqabat police on February 6."It was in the evening and I was washing some clothes in the bathroom. My sister had just gone to the supermarket," the model, aged 35, said. She heard the flat's door being opened. "I was surprised to see a stranger (the accused) and I first thought he entered by mistake. But he barged inside and covered my head with a bag."She took the bag off and screamed at him. "He then grabbed me by my hair and slapped me.

He said he wanted to have sex with me." He then grabbed her neck and tried to strangle her, she claimed. She did not let him take off her clothes and pushed him hard.Her sister then came back and grabbed the accused by the back. And he jumped off the window.The model's sister, a 37-year-old secretary, said that she left the flat around 8 pm. "I did not lock the door. I came back about ten minutes later and found a man there. He was grabbing my sister's neck".

A police sergeant quoted the accused as admitting to having entered the woman's flat. "He claimed he was in for theft only. He followed the woman from a night club. He entered her flat and looked in her purse for valuables to steal. He had a struggle with her when she started to scream," the officer said. The verdict remains subject to be appealed.