DFA: UAE gang rape untrue

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi said yesterday the reported rape of two Filipinas behind a mall that was circulated via e-mail did not take place.

In a report submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Ambassador Grace Relucio Princesa said the embassy investigated the reported rape of the two Filipinas behind the Marina Mall after a video of an unidentified woman with severe slash wounds was circulated via e-mail, allegedly identifying her as one of the rape victims.

The embassy said an e-mail message from a certain “Edward Enoc” was circulated among the members of the Filipino community last Feb. 22. Enoc’s e-mail alleged that one Filipina died while the other escaped and sought medical assistant from the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) hospital. She died a few days later.

The embassy dispatched an assistance-to-nationals (ATN) team to visit the SKMC, other hospitals, and the city morgue, which all said no such victims were brought in.

The ATN team then proceeded to the Shabeya and Mina police stations in Abu Dhabi to determine if there was any reported rape of two Filipinas but no such police incident report was recorded.

The embassy also contacted two high-ranking officers from the Abu Dhabi Criminal Investigation Division (CID), who said no such case was brought to their attention.

Princesa had informed Filipino community leaders in a meeting that the alleged rape of two Filipinas is not true and requested them to remind their members to refrain from further spreading the rumor.