Man jailed for groping female cleaner at his Dubai flat

Dubai - "He called me to his bedroom and asked me to clean the dust on the bed's front part."

A resident, accused of sexually harassing a maid he had brought into his flat for cleaning, was sentenced to three months in jail by a Dubai court on Tuesday.
Public prosecution records show the 46-year-old Egyptian man inappropriately touched the Filipina maid as he was alone with him in his flat.
He denied the charge at the court of First Instance earlier, claiming he touched the woman unintentionally. He was found guilty and will be deported as per the court ruling.
The complainant, 32, said that at 2:30pm on March 11, she was assigned by the cleaning services firm she worked for, to go to the man's flat.
"The door was open. I cleaned till around 6pm until his arrival. I was then ironing clothes in the living room. He called me to his bedroom and asked me to clean the dust on the bed's front part."
She told the prosecutor that as she was cleaning, he groped her and then quickly pulled his hand. "When I yelled at him, he claimed it happened by mistake. I pushed his hand away as he grabbed my hand and told me he would give me money to keep quiet and not file a police complaint."
He then followed her to the kitchen and put the cleaning charge on the table. She took it and left the flat and when she reached down the building, she called the police.
A policeman said he went to the place where the woman was after receiving the sexual harassment report. "She looked scared and was crying as she recounted to us what happened. We called the accused there. He firmly denied her accusations at first. But later claimed his hand touched the maid by mistake. He said he did not do it intentionally."
During the public prosecution investigation, he totally denied the charge.
The defendant has 15 days to appeal the verdict from the issuance date.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai