Dubai investor robs female job-seeker during 'interview'

Dubai - Prosecutors are pushing for a strict punishment for him.

A man called a job-seeker for an interview, assaulted her and robbed Dh4,000 cash and a necklace worth Dh1,800 from her, a Dubai court has heard. Prosecutors said the 39-year-old Bangladeshi investor called the complainant to his apartment for an interview for a job at his shop.

The incident took place on September 27 and was reported at the Bur Dubai police station. At the Court of First Instance, the defendant denied a robbery charge. Prosecutors are pushing for a strict punishment for him.

The 28-year-old complainant, an Ethiopian, said that a day before the interview, she was shopping at a supermarket when the defendant approached her. "He said he owned a shop and was looking for a vendor. He invited me for an interview and gave me the location."

However, when she went the next day to the address he had given her, she found it was an apartment and saw many women of different nationalities there. "He told me I could join them and work in prostitution and earn money out of it. I got angry and as I tried to leave, I found the door was locked," she told the public prosecution investigator.

The accused allegedly assaulted her and grabbed her neck with both his hands. He then snatched her purse. "He panicked when he spotted me calling the police. He left in a hurry. But I chased him down the building and tried to stop him. He ran away after robbing me," she said.

She lodged a complaint at the police station and went for a medical check-up.

A Pakistani cleaner said he saw the two persons having a verbal brawl near a building. "There were people surrounding them. She was shouting while grabbing him by his shirt. She looked very upset but I could not hear what it was all about."

A police corporal said they received a complaint about a robbery incident in the Grand Souq area at 7.30pm. "The complainant told us that she was surprised when she found that the flat where she went for an interview was used for prostitution. The man who met her wanted her to work for him as he did not have a job for her in his shop."

After the defendant was apprehended on October 3, the complainant identified him, when shown to her among other suspects by the police.

The court will pronounce a ruling on December 25.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai