Salesman touches woman inappropriately in Dubai shop, jailed

Dubai - The incident happened at the end of the woman's shift.

A salesman was sentenced to three months in jail by the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday for sexually harassing a female colleague.

The 32-year-old Tunisian man, who lost his job because of the incident, was found guilty of groping a Filipina colleague twice at the shop where they worked in a mall.

He will be deported.

The case dates back to July 29, 2018, and was registered at the Al Rashidiya police station.

The complainant, a 41-year-old, said the incident happened at the end of her shift.

"I was about to check out at the end of my shift on the computer when the defendant approached me asking me whether I wanted him to do it again."

She ignored him thinking that he was not talking to her. "However, as I was walking out of the shop, he touched me inappropriately. I was so shocked I did not talk or scream at him. I told the administration about it the next day," she told the prosecutor.

During the public prosecution investigation, she said the accused groped her twice in July that year at the shop.

A 36-year-old Filipina manager confirmed that the employee told her about the defendant's doings.

"I learnt from her that the accused touched her backside the first time around 4pm while she was standing near the cashier counter. She ignored it thinking it happened by mistake. However, he repeated what he did when that employee was busy speaking on the phone at the entrance at 5pm."

An internal probe was then conducted and employees were interviewed.

During the prosecution investigation, a Filipino storekeeper, 30, said he saw the defendant touching the complainant the first time.

"She told him not to do it again. She told me the following day that he repeated it when she was leaving work."

A security footage capturing the incident was used as public prosecution evidence.

The ruling has been appealed.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai