Man gropes woman heading to her home in Dubai

A 28-year-old sales executive has been charged at a Dubai court for allegedly groping a woman who was heading to her home in Al Muraqqabat.
 
The incident allegedly took place on July 17 when the Filipina complainant, 28, left a pharmacy at 10pm and was walking home when she spotted a man following her.
 
"He caught me off guard when he groped me. I was so surprised I hit him with a plastic bag I was carrying."
 
As he kept walking, she tried to catch up with him and tell him to stay till the police arrived. But he pushed her away by grabbing her neck with his arm.
 
She recounted how she followed him to a building. "As I pressed the lift button, he walked out of the lift and grabbed me again by my neck. An Arab man stopped him from assaulting me and asked him about what was going on."
 
As she was talking to the police on her mobile phone and leading them to her whereabouts the man disappeared.

The police arrived and told her to lodge a complaint with a testimony.
 
A police corporal said they checked the surveillance cameras of the defendant's building. "We had the watchman give us his name and flat number after the woman identified him. After a two-day close watch, we learned that he had moved out because someone told him about the complaint and that we were looking for him."
 
Upon police instructions, the defendant's sponsor told him to turn himself in to the police station.
 
"At 11am on July 19, the accused showed up at the police station. He denied the woman's accusations and claimed he did not mean to touch her but he mistook her for one of his female friends. He was then booked and referred to the public prosecution," the corporal said.
 
The police heard from the accused's sponsor that he had been involved in several similar incidents at work, which were then solved by the company's administration.
 
However, the Sri Lankan suspect, a sales executive, who is currently under detention, has denied a sexual harassment charge at the Court of First Instance.
 
A ruling will be pronounced on October 21.
 
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.