Dubai: A karate student defended herself by beating up a man who allegedly attempted to rape her after kidnapping her, a court heard on Monday.

The Georgian woman visitor, a brown belt karate student, used her martial arts techniques when she beat up the 23-year-old Pakistani driver, H.K., and foiled his attempt to rape her after he lured her to his car in November.

The woman was said to be walking into a hotel in Bur Dubai with her friends to attend a birthday party when H.K. overheard that she needed to buy flowers.

Records said the driver offered to drive her to a nearby florist but instead took her to a deserted area, attacked her and attempted to rape her in Al Rashidiya. The woman used her karate skills and beat up the man. She also pounded his head with her shoe as she foiled his attempt to assault her and ripped off her shirt, court records said.

Prosecutors accused the suspect of deception, attempted rape, assault and stealing her wallet.

“She is the one who attacked me first … and then I had to defend myself,” said H.K. as he entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.

The suspect pleaded not guilty and dismissed all his accusations before presiding judge Urfan Omar.

“Why did she ride in your car then?” the judge asked him.

“She was drunk and she came into my car on her own … I did not kidnap her. I did not try to have sex with her, but we had a heated argument. She beat me first. I defended myself. She was very drunk and beat me … I did not take her purse, but she forgot it in my vehicle after we fought. I returned it to her later,” contended H.K.

The Georgian woman told prosecutors that the suspect had overheard her talking to friends that she wanted to buy flowers. “I went with the suspect. He drove for a long time and stopped in a dark area. He punched me and tried to remove my dress, wanting to have sex with me. I hit him back. Part of my shirt was ripped … when I tried to fix my dress, he tried to rape me again. I fought back and I hit him with my shoe. Then he rushed to his seat and drove away. My purse remained in his car. I went to my friend’s house around midnight and told her what had happened,” she testified. A policeman claimed to prosecutors that the suspect was apprehended a few days after he was identified from the hotel’s CCTV cameras.

“During questioning, he alleged that he spotted the woman in the hotel lobby and she agreed to have sex with him for Dh500. He claimed that they quarrelled over the place where they were supposed to have sex … when she refused to have sex with him in his car, they fought,” testified the policeman.

The court will appoint a lawyer to defend H.K. when it reconvenes on May 9.