A BUS driver who tried to rape an off-duty US navy sailor was beaten into submission by the woman, who caught him in a stranglehold between her legs.

The incident happened when the woman, 28, was traveling alone on a bus in Dubai while she was on 24-hour leave from her ship on January 19, a court heard this week.

After getting on the bus, she noticed the driver did not take the main road. He then parked the vehicle, sat next to her and tried to kiss her, The National reported.

When she pushed him away he pulled a knife and told her he was going to rape her, and that she must do as he said.

She knocked the knife from his grasp, broke it in two, bit his hand, wrestled him to the ground and put him in a stranglehold between her thighs.

She then left the bus and reported the incident to her commander. Police arrested the driver the next day at his home.

The driver, a 21-year-old Pakistani man, was charged with attempted rape, threatening to kill, assault and consuming alcohol illegally.

He confessed to the alcohol charge but said he was too drunk on the night to remember what else happened.

"He was drunk at the time of arrest," said the attending officer.

Tests found traces of the sailor’s blood and hair on the bus. The case was adjourned to May 1.