Manager in dock for sexually harassing employee in Dubai

Dubai - An employee in the company tried to dissuade her from lodging a police complaint against the defendant as it would cause trouble for him.

A manager has been charged at the Dubai Court of First Instance after an employee accused him of sexually harassing her.

The manager, a 45-year-old Asian, is accused of indecent behaviour with the complainant in his office, his car and other places on different occasions from November 10 last year to January 8.

A complaint was lodged at Al Qusais police station.

During the public prosecution investigation, the complainant, a 25-year-old Asian, said that she was working at the defendant's company. She recounted how he used to tell her that he wanted a relation with her with full trust. "He told me that he hired me because he loved me. On November 10 last year, he invited me to join his family in celebrating his birthday. However, when I went to the restaurant, I found it was just me and him. He then told me about his desire to have a sexual relation with me."

She told the investigator that he would call her to his office on a daily basis. "There he would sexually harass me. On December 15, 2019, he called me into his office to bring the passport of an employee. But as I was taking the passport out of the safe, the defendant groped me. He called me later that day asking me to keep the incident between us, while promising not to repeat it."

However, she recalled that he kept harassing her later while no one was around. "Last December, he sent me to buy some stuff from the supermarket. When I walked out of the store, I found him waiting for me to drop me home. But he parked his car somewhere in the dark and molested me."

An employee in the company tried to dissuade her from lodging a police complaint against the defendant as it would cause trouble for him, she pointed out. "The manager also tried to convince me not to resign. I got a call from an unknown person telling me to be careful because the accused was going to file a complaint against me, accusing me of working in prostitution. I went on January 18 to the Al Qusais police station with my friend and reported him," the complainant said.

She claimed that she did not report the defendant earlier because she was not aware about the law in the UAE and does not have any relatives here.

An Asian employee, 29, confirmed to the investigators that he had seen the manager harassing the victim and the latter crying because of that. "Once he offered me Dh40,000 to help him sort out a problem with the complainant so that she did not complain against him."
The trial will continue on July 13.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai