Ekaterina Stetsyuk, a 23-year-old model, sustained a number of back injuries and had two surgeries, including one to insert a titanium plate to support her spine, before police came to her hospital ward in Dubai to literally drag her to jail.
“They just grabbed me from my hospital bed,” she told Russian TV host Andrey Malakhov on his On Air Live show, adding that she survived her three months of detention only thanks to her inmate, who helped her move around the cell and to the toilet, since could barely move, let alone walk at the time.
Meanwhile, the alleged offender managed to get away, having accused Ekaterina of “attempted murder.”
“I was accused of attacking him with a knife, of injuring him, so I must be put in jail,” the model noted, stressing that the UAE is a Muslim country, where “the law is on the side of the man.”
She went on to say she arrived in Dubai, which she considered to be “a fairytale land,” half a year ago after the modelling agency made her an offer which “no-one could resist,” adding that it had nothing to do with being a runway model.
Upon arrival, she resisted her potential millionaire employer’s advances for some time, but he then invited her to a sixth-floor room in a hotel-apartment complex during business hours, reportedly to talk shop.
After she refused to touch the alcohol he offered her, he “began to harass her sexually,” “touch her knees,” prompting her to remove his hand. After he persisted in his efforts, she ran out into the corridor but was forcefully returned to the room, Ekaterina recollected, adding that the millionaire quickly flew off the handle.
“He grabbed a knife and pushed me against the wall, clutching me by the neck, and starting to suffocate me,” the model went on to say, adding she was so scared of being raped and furthermore, killed, that she obeyed when he finally told her to undress.
She then fought him for the knife, broke free from him and then, “high on emotions….. I just jumped out of the window,” she said.
Ekaterina Stetsyuk survived the incident, which happened in early March, and it took three months, which she spent behind bars, to finally be deported back home, following a number of high-level Russian diplomatic representations. The man she accused of attempting to rape her was deported to Pakistan at the same time she left the Emirates, in late June.
“Home cures. The family are shocked, but they are certainly happy I’m back,” Ekaterina shared. “There are some health issues, but I think, it’ll all turn out fine eventually,” she added.