UAE: COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF 65-YEAR-OLD WOMAN’S RAPIST

June 14, 2010: in the United Arab Emirates, the Fujairah Court of Appeal commuted the death sentence awarded to a youth for raping a 65-year-old woman to life imprisonment.
Soon after the presiding judge pronounced the verdict, the elated Emirati convict was escorted by the police to the detention cell, and sent to the Central Prison later to serve the life term.
According to the court records, the incident happened on January 10 this year. The police were informed about an old woman lying on the ground near a building of a company in Al Hail Industrial Zone. The patrol team that rushed to the scene found the dishevelled woman. She told the policemen that she was raped by a man.
“As I was waiting for a taxi, a man in a saloon car stopped near me and asked me where I wanted to go,” the woman said. He offered her a lift to her house. Since the man was as young as her grandchildren, the woman did not think anything was amiss. On the way, the youth assaulted her and raped her despite her resistance. Later, the defendant drove to Al Hail Industrial Zone, where he pushed her out of the car and drove away.
The police launched a manhunt. The CCTV cameras fixed near the company where the woman was found helped the CID squad to identify the youth and the car’s registration number. He was arrested. During interrogation, he first denied the allegation, but confessed to the crime after he was shown the CCTV footage. (Sources: Khaleej Times Online, 16/06/2010)