Two Dubai expats slap female cashier, extort Dh1,000 from her

Two Dubai expats faced charges at the Court of First Instance on Tuesday after their female colleague accused them of misconduct towards her.

One of them, a 42-year-old Egyptian, is accused of slapping the woman, a Filipina, inappropriately and groping her.

The other, a 34-year-old Egyptian salesman, allegedly forced the complainant to give him Dh1,000 from the revenues of the dates kiosk, where they all worked.

They denied the charges in court.

The incidents took place on April 9 and a complaint was filed at Al Barsha police station.

The complainant said that she worked as a cashier for a dates and coffee kiosk. "The two defendants worked as salesmen at the same place. On the day of the incident, the first accused slapped me inappropriately and then groped me for a few seconds. The other accused approached me shortly and slapped me on the face. I cried and then went to the ladies room to wash my face. He later told me to give him Dh1,000 which I did out of fear. The money was from the revenues of the day of the shop."

Another Egyptian staff member at the kiosk told the prosecution investigator that he learned from the cashier how the second accused forced her to pay him Dh1,000 from the cash register.

Both incidents of sexual harassment and forceful payment of money were captured on the shop surveillance cameras. The footage was used as evidence in the case.

No visible injury was detected on the complainant's body, as shown in the forensic report.

During investigation, the first accused claimed he meant to "joke" with the complainant when he touched her. The other man admitted he touched her face and took the amount of Dh1,000 as a loan.

A ruling will be issued on December 31.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

Marie Nammour

Originally from Lebanon, Marie has been covering the Dubai Courts and the Public Prosecution, immigration and labour issues often, Lebanese community-related affairs and the Dubai International Film Festival. A graduate from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, a city to the north of Beirut, Marie worked as an in-house reporter, covering international affairs for the LBCI and the LBC Sat (Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International), a leading TV station back home and a legal translator for Sagesse, a renowned law college in the heart of the Lebanese capital. Marie speaks fluently Arabic, French, English and Spanish. She is fond of travelling, psychology, learning more and of the French literature.